The Seoul Metropolitan Government and police have drawn up large-scale safety management measures ahead of the BTS concert on the 21st. With as many as 260,000 people expected on the day of the concert, the Gwanghwamun Square area will be controlled in a "stadium-style," and access to nearby buildings will also be restricted. The concert will be broadcast live worldwide on Netflix.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on the 16th, the city has been holding weekly meetings to review preparations and manage the overall event since the BTS concert was confirmed. Starting with a review meeting on preparations led by Mayor Oh Se-hoon last month, the first and second vice mayors for administrative affairs and senior officials from related departments have been meeting every week to review a comprehensive response plan.
The city set "safety" as the top priority on the day of the concert and decided to operate a Citizen Safety Countermeasures Headquarters made up of a command unit and eight working teams.
The headquarters will be led by the head of the city's Disaster and Safety Office as Deputy Minister and will consist of eight teams: ◇ overall situation control ◇ traffic measures ◇ medical measures ◇ rescue and first aid ◇ facility management ◇ foreigner support ◇ monitoring ◇ administrative support. District offices will work with the fire department, police, and other related agencies to manage crowds, control traffic, and handle emergency medical response.
Mayor Oh also repeatedly emphasized the importance of safety management. At a "BTS comeback event safety review meeting" on the 9th, he said, "We must remember that accidents always start with 1% complacency," adding, "Facilities we usually pass by without a second thought, like subway vents or construction site screens, can become hazards in front of a crowd of 170,000."
Advance inspections are underway for key facilities such as railings, stairs, sculptures, and vents around the event venue. Facilities found to have risk factors such as falls, collapses, or toppling are being addressed immediately, and fences have been installed around vents and other spots to prevent people from climbing onto them.
A large number of on-site response personnel will also be deployed. The city plans to station more than 3,400 personnel in cooperation with district offices and related agencies such as public corporations and the fire department, and to subdivide management of the venue, major subway stations, and areas expected to see dense crowds.
In particular, the city is working with police on a plan to restrict access to 31 buildings near the venue. The measure aims to prevent some spectators who failed to get tickets from attempting "trick viewing" by going up to rooftops and to prevent falls from rooftops.
Police decided to apply a "stadium-style crowd control method" around Gwanghwamun Square on the day of the concert. They will set up 31 official entrances that people must pass through to enter the venue, as in a stadium, and will control the gates if crowd density rises above two people per square meter.
Traffic controls will also be in place. The section of Sejong-daero between Gwanghwamun Intersection and City Hall Intersection will be fully closed from 9 p.m. on the 20th to 6 a.m. on the 22nd. On the day of the event, parts of Sajik-ro and Yulgok-ro will be restricted to vehicle traffic from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., and parts of Saemunan-ro and Jongno will be restricted from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Subway operations will also be adjusted. Four Seoul subway stations including Gwanghwamun, City Hall, and Gyeongbokgung will skip stops for certain periods on the day of the event, and station entrances will be closed. Gwanghwamun Station will skip stops from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., and City Hall and Gyeongbokgung stations will skip stops from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., with adjustments possible depending on on-site conditions.