Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-jung on the 31st visited the Bosingak "New Year's Eve bell" ringing venue in Seoul to inspect crowd safety management.
The Bosingak bell-ringing event has been a representative New Year celebration since 1953. Every year, a crowd of about 100,000 gathers to enjoy the event.
The Minister visited the on-site operations headquarters installed near Bosingak and received a briefing on safety management measures from officials of the Seoul city government, police and fire authorities. Afterward, the Minister toured the event area, including the performance stage and video tower, to check for any pedestrian hazards.
At the Bosingak bell-ringing venue, crowd management is underway using safety personnel and safety fences by zone. In addition, related agencies are working together to prepare for safety accidents by deploying fire and emergency medical personnel, operating cold-weather shelters and controlling nearby traffic.
The Minister also inspected the police's high-altitude observation vehicle, which allows visual and camera confirmation of crowd density from a height of 7 meters above ground.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) is also conducting safety management not only at Bosingak but for 373 sunset and sunrise events held nationwide through Jan. 1. The Myeongdong countdown event was additionally included as a priority management area, and MOIS dispatched on-site situation management coordinators to a total of nine locations, including ▲ Jongno and Achasan in Seoul ▲ Jung-gu in Daegu ▲ Ganjeolgot in Ulsan ▲ Gwangalli in Busan ▲ Gyeongpodae in Gangneung ▲ Hyangiram in Yeosu ▲ Homigot in Pohang.
□ Minister Yoon Ho-jung said, "Despite various year-end and New Year events, thanks not only to the government's safety measures but also to the public's mature civic awareness, events are proceeding safely without crowd accidents,"
○ "As we watch the first sunrise of 2026, 'the year of the red horse,' so that we can welcome a hopeful new year safely, we ask everyone to actively cooperate in maintaining order on-site and to carefully prepare cold-weather gear to guard against the cold," the Minister said.