The government will issue a crowd crisis alert at the "caution" level to prevent safety accidents for the BTS comeback event to be held around Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on the 21st. This is the second time the government has issued the caution level since the Halloween period last year. Police expect up to 260,000 people to flock to the event.
On the 11th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety held a countermeasures meeting of related agencies on crowd safety management for the BTS comeback event, presided over by Minister Yoon Ho-jung. Attendees included officials from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters, and Seoul Metro, among others from ministries, local governments, and agencies.
The meeting was arranged to review agency-by-agency measures to prevent safety accidents in anticipation of large crowds gathering around the venue. The number of audience members who received tickets for the BTS comeback event totals 22,000. As the entire Gwanghwamun area will be used for the performance, the audience size is expected to grow further. Police estimate around 230,000 people will gather from the stage toward the Daehanmun Gate of Deoksugung Palace, and about 260,000 up to Sungnyemun, where a media facade event will be held.
Accordingly, to concentrate the safety management capacity of related agencies, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) will preemptively issue the crowd disaster crisis alert at the "caution" level for Jongno-gu and Jung-gu in Seoul for one day on the 21st. The crowd crisis alert has four levels: attention, caution, warning, and severe. The caution level was first issued from Oct. 24 to Nov. 2 last year during the Halloween period.
With the issuance of the crisis alert, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) and police will form an essential situation management team, and local governments will operate rapid response teams prepared for emergencies, establishing monitoring and response systems. Ahead of the event, on the 19th and 20th of this month, a "joint government safety inspection team" involving the public and private sectors will be formed to conduct a pre-event inspection of overall safety management. Minister Yoon Ho-jung will personally tour the site before the event to conduct a final inspection of locations with a high risk of crowd accidents.
In addition, a field situation room will operate at Government Complex Seoul so that each agency can share the progress of the event in real time. Field situation managers from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) will be dispatched to major crowd-concentration points to support on-site crowd management.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) will provide consultations for performance safety and inspect stage facilities and seating, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare will pre-establish deployment systems for public health center rapid response teams and Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT) to prepare for emergencies. Police will focus on maintaining order around the venue, securing public safety, and conducting anti-terrorism activities, while the fire authorities will deploy rescue and emergency medical personnel and ambulances throughout the site to thoroughly prepare for safety accidents.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government will operate the Citizens' Safety Countermeasures Headquarters to verify implementation of the safety management plan, and will support the overall event operations, including amenities such as restrooms and guidance for foreigners, and the cleanup of disorderly conduct. It also plans to send safety guidance text messages in Korean and English near the venue and to air safety instruction videos on large electronic billboards on surrounding buildings to encourage orderly viewing.
Minister Yoon Ho-jung said, "We will put the safety of everyone enjoying the event first and make every effort to secure on-site safety so we can showcase 'K-safety' befitting the stature of K-culture to the world," adding, "For this event the world is watching, please actively cooperate in maintaining order on site with the mindset that everyone is the protagonist of safety and by demonstrating a mature sense of safety."