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| /Yonhap |
Hundreds of people flocked to Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) on Saturday afternoon to watch the most popular Pokemon characters walk through in a series of parades.
However, the unexpectedly large crowd that gathered to see 10 Pikachu-costumed people wobble on through the cultural complex in northern Seoul prompted concerns about safety and resulted in two out of four performances being cancelled.
The event was held to celebrate the first Korean winning the world Pokemon championship.
Maekyung newspaper quoted an organizing committee member as saying, "The police were worried about the crowd and how it could have led to a possible stampede. So we decided to hold parades only at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. time, and cancelled the 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. shows."
Four one-hour performances were originally scheduled for each day between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Eddie Cho, a member of the public, told the Korea Times, "I thought the absence of security personnel was alarming for an enclosed space such DDP's lower level.
"There were kids running towards the area, causing sand to fly in the air. When I saw another security guard later, he still didn't know any details of the Pikachu performances.
"I was disappointed about the event being cancelled, but I think it was done with the right intentions."
The costumed characters were all women shorter than 160 centimeters.
A Pikachu event was held in Japan in August to celebrate the release of a Pokemon movie. That event included more than 100 people in Pikachu costumes.
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