By Hyun Young Yi and Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) – Normally glitzy and buzzing in the vacation season, South Korea’s popular Itaewon night-life district looks like a ghost town this 12 months, as people still mourning 158 killed in a Halloween crowd crush go elsewhere for festivities.
Many Itaewon restaurants and stores have put up Christmas trees and ornaments, but back alleys that house the district’s hottest nightclubs and bars and were the centre of the Oct. 29 crush are conspicuously quiet.
Where there would normally be hustle and bustle, notes and posters expressing condolence line the partitions – remembering the victims, mostly aged 20 to 30, who had been amongst 1000’s who had flocked to Itaewon to benefit from the first virtually unrestricted Halloween parties in three years.
One other 196 were injured as the gang pushed towards a central intersection.
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“Itaewon was once a spot for Christmas parties, with a number of decorations on the road, nevertheless it has turn into very silent and sombre,” local resident Lee Jun-hee told Reuters from the alleys.
One other resident, Kim Kyeong-nyeon, 65, said some businesses in Itaewon were attempting to brighten the Christmas mood, nevertheless it felt too soon to her.
“Individuals are still grieving. We’d need more time,” she said.
A manager of a neighborhood hamburger joint said his business still suffered from the disaster, as did other restaurants and bars nearby.
“Now now we have only a few customers coming, and the streets are silent,” he said, asking to not be named. “It isn’t Christmas yet, but I suppose Christmas won’t be so different.”
The finance ministry said on Friday that consumption at three major malls had slowed last month. It identified the disaster as an element behind that.
Many persons are in search of other places to feel the Christmas spirit, comparable to the normal tourist district of Myeongdong, where the Shinsegae and Lotte malls have unveiled, as usual, their huge and vibrant festive displays.
To stop accidents, police have arrange barriers in viewing areas near the stores to manage crowds. The Seoul city government now has a team to administer large assemblies of individuals.
“This continually reminds of the tragedy,” said Jeon Ye-hyang, 25, a neighborhood in Myeongdong, the viewing areas. “Which may mean that we cannot have the opportunity to totally benefit from the Christmas atmosphere this 12 months.”
(Reporting by Hyun Young Yi; Additional reporting Hyonhee Shin; Writing by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Bradley Perrett)
Copyright 2022 Thomson Reuters.
