Seoul revokes safety award for Yongsan District following criticism by bereaved Itaewon families
Published: 27 Aug. 2025, 21:07
Updated: 29 Aug. 2025, 10:36
![Yongsan District Mayor Park Hee-young, right, and Kim Jin-bae, head of the district's safety and disaster management division, pose for a photo after receiving an award for safety management at a local festival from Seoul Metropolitan Government on Aug. 22. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/29/2196bc9a-5fd8-4841-9fc3-08a5c17547e8.jpg)
Yongsan District Mayor Park Hee-young, right, and Kim Jin-bae, head of the district's safety and disaster management division, pose for a photo after receiving an award for safety management at a local festival from Seoul Metropolitan Government on Aug. 22. [YONHAP]
The Seoul Metropolitan Government will revoke an award it gave to Yongsan District for safety management at a local festival after strong protests from the families of victims of the Oct. 29, 2022, Itaewon crowd crush.
"The award was presented at a disaster management workshop, not at an official city event,” a Seoul city official said Wednesday afternoon. "Still, we apologize to the bereaved families and will cancel the award."
The official added that Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon had "sternly reprimanded the department responsible" and ordered measures to prevent a recurrence.
"We regret that Yongsan District issued a press release and excessively publicized the award at a time when the pain of Itaewon disaster victims has not yet healed," the Seoul Metropolitan Government added in a statement released Wednesday.
"It was an utterly senseless act that failed to recognize the suffering of the bereaved families," said Oh in the statement.
Last Friday, Yongsan District won the grand prize at the 2025 Local Festival Safety Management Best Practices Contest hosted by the city at the Seoul Museum of History to promote a safe festival culture.
![Minister of the Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung visits the Oct. 29 Memorial and Safety Road, at the alley in Yongsan District, central Seoul where the Itaewon crowd crush took place on Oct. 29, 2022, on Aug. 4. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/29/6be2aa28-6b86-4c87-9b42-b91ca4021515.jpg)
Minister of the Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung visits the Oct. 29 Memorial and Safety Road, at the alley in Yongsan District, central Seoul where the Itaewon crowd crush took place on Oct. 29, 2022, on Aug. 4. [YONHAP]
The district presented its "crowd safety management plan for Halloween in Yongsan" at the final round, highlighting measures implemented in Itaewon during last year’s Halloween period. It then publicized the award, saying its comprehensive safety measures had been highly evaluated.
The award sparked outrage among victims' families and survivors of the disaster.
A committee of bereaved families of the Oct. 29, 2022, Itaewon crowd crush issued a joint statement demanding that Oh apologize and cancel the award.
"The person who has denied responsibility for the Itaewon disaster by claiming that the Halloween festival was an unorganized event with no host is none other than Yongsan District Mayor Park Hee-young," the committee said. “By accepting this award, is the district now admitting that responsibility for safety management lies with the local government and its leader?"
"Is this really a matter for praise and awards — safety measures taken only after hundreds of casualties occurred?" asked the group in its statement criticizing the award and Seoul city. "This is an administrative disaster born of misunderstanding the victims and a lack of moral sensitivity."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)