What will happen in Itaewon this Halloween?

Almost a year on, sticky note messages of condolenceare seen on a wall at the bottom of the alley in central Seoul's Itaewon where a crowd crush occured during Halloween celebrations last year resulting in the death of at least 158 people, Oct. 7. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Foreign nationals across Korea unsure how to approach holiday this year

By Jon Dunbar

Halloween 2023 is approaching, and people across the country ― especially foreign nationals ― who remember the events of last year are wondering what will happen on the anniversary of that tragic night.

“I'm honestly still dealing with it all,” a survivor of the disaster told The Korea Times on condition of anonymity. “But I will say that I hope the government and police department acknowledge the incident in a big way prior to the anniversary weekend. I know it's unrealistic to expect Itaewon to not celebrate Halloween this year but, out of respect for the victims and everyone involved, I think the businesses should do something to acknowledge it too. Many people will choose not to go to Itaewon this year, but for those that do, I expect the atmosphere to be incredibly different, and rightly so.”

It is clear that many in the country are not in the mood to celebrate, and people are taking a cautious approach. Questions are appearing online from people wondering if they should put up Halloween decorations at home, go to Halloween parties or participate in Halloween-themed events at their workplaces.

A South African teaching English at an elementary school who wished to be identified only as Stan said his co-teachers asked him if it would be appropriate to offer students Halloween activities this year.

“We normally plan for special lessons like Halloween and Christmas to ensure we have something fun for the students to do,” he told The Korea Times. “One of my co-teachers mentioned that she wasn’t sure if we would have a Halloween lesson this year because it might still be a sensitive topic for some people.”

To gauge a consensus, he started a poll on the Facebook group "Every Expat in Korea" on Sept. 14. Out of 502 respondents, 57 percent selected “I’m celebrating Halloween this year,” while the remaining 43 percent selected “I’m not celebrating Halloween this year.”

“I was a bit surprised how many people weighed in on the poll,” said Stan, who points out that as a South African he doesn’t celebrate Halloween except inside the classroom. “The poll definitely highlighted that many people still have some raw emotions with regard to the Itaewon Halloween tragedy, and who is to blame. There is a feeling of ‘is it insensitive to enjoy Halloween when so many people died last year?’”

Foreign residents are especially sensitive about the tragedy that took at least 158 lives last October, even though most of the victims were Korean nationals. Halloween had been increasingly embraced by young Koreans over the last couple of decades, but it is still widely seen as a foreign holiday.

According to Robert Neff, Halloween was first celebrated in Korea by missionaries and their families over a century ago, and this tradition continued in places like Seoul American Elementary School on Yongsan Garrison and Seoul Union Club in the 1960s. As Bill Morgenstein, who was stationed at Yongsan in 1957, remembered it, “For some reason Halloween was a big holiday for us. Halloween was party time.”

But Halloween didn't enter mainstream Korean society until sometime this century.

“My theory is that Halloween arrived in Korea via hagwon Halloween parties in the late 1990s and early 2000s,” said Canadian permanent resident Rob Ouwehand, operator of the blog Roboseyo.

The students introduced to this fun Western holiday have grown up, and continued the celebrations in more adult settings.

“It was a young holiday. Ten years ago, there wasn't much to do for Halloween. We don't have many holidays in Korea that encourage people to have silly fun,” said Joe McPherson, an American permanent resident of Korea.

McPherson operates The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk, a tour operator that introduces Korea’s dark history and the supernatural in walks all over the city. He added that they have been working for three years to introduce a Dark Side of Itaewon tour, but those plans have been paused. “We're delaying its debut because people could get the wrong impression,” he explained.

“Itaewon is now officially haunted,” said Michael Hurt, an American permanent resident of Korea. “It's become a place of national and even global trauma. So that's going to literally kill the event this year, pun somewhat intended. In short, it feels kind of ‘too soon’ to see anything celebratory happening there besides memorializing acts or other motions of memory.”

Itaewon's reputation

Itaewon’s own reputation has been a factor in the reactions to Halloween. Just as Halloween is a foreign holiday, Itaewon is a foreign district, its name often being synonymous with foreignness in Korea.

"Long associated with prostitution and drunken, brawling G.I.s, when hip places like Sportsman’s Club drew Koreans to the area in the early 1980s, articles about this 'unfamiliar foreign zone' criticized the university coeds who frequented the area as they 'chased after' foreign men, and a number of mid-1980s films portrayed Itaewon as a den of vice," said Matt VanVolkenburg, a Canadian researcher of Korean history. "Because AIDS was seen as a disease 'transmitted by foreigners,' when Korean fatalities first occurred in 1987, many bars and clubs in Itaewon were reported to be 'on the edge of closing down.'"

Thirty years later, these attitudes resurfaced in the spring of 2020 when a small COVID-19 outbreak occurred in Itaewon. This resulted in a rise in suspicion toward anyone who may have been in the neighborhood, particularly foreigners, and area businesses suffered. Even though the U.S. military has almost completed its relocation out of Yongsan and many of the long-established Western bars have closed, the area still retains a reputation for foreignness.

As the U.S. military presence has waned, Koreans have been coming to Itaewon in droves. But when Itaewon ends up in the news, most of them avoid the area. As well, when something happens in Itaewon, many Koreans across the country look at the foreigners around them differently. "This leads many foreign residents to feel unfairly singled out over any issues involving Itaewon," VanVolkenburg explained.

“It's unfair how negative burdens have been put on foreigners when incidents happen in Itaewon,” McPherson said. “Nonetheless, foreigners should always be on their best behavior in Korea. It's unfortunate, but we still get judged as a group for the actions of a few.”

“I am wincing already in anticipation of a few oblivious foreigners showing up in Hongdae or Itaewon ready for a sloppy drunk Halloween, and the viral attention it’s likely to receive,” Ouwehand said. “The high turnover of many foreigners in Korea mean a lot of people here this October might not have been in Korea a year ago, which increases the chance they might not put two and two together and clue in that it’s not the time or place.”

“This Halloween, Itaewon will no doubt be swarming with camera-equipped citizen ‘journalists’ looking for a bad-looking scene that can be used to promote X political party, evangelize Y religion or pursue Z agenda,” said an American resident of nearby Haebangchon who asked to be identified only as Sarah.

She added that she saw a lot of people exploit the crowd disaster last year to further their own agendas.

“The way the tragedy was used by politicians in the days of grief that followed it was absolutely disgusting,” she said. “When a memorial was erected in their memory, alt-right protesters harassed people who stopped to pay their respects and vandalized the vigil with hateful political banners. I heard people try to blame the tragedy on the ‘Satanic’ origins of Halloween, on young people for wanting to go out and have a good time, on foreigners, on gays… anyone and anything but the actual phenomena and people at fault.”

Itaewon’s pain

“The reality is that no matter what happens, foreigners will get blamed for something in Korea, whether it's COVID or the lack of job opportunities,” said Pinnacle TheHustler, owner of Lit Lounge in Itaewon. “This is the society that we live in and sentiments that we've grown accustomed to. However, regardless of society's judgement of the foreign community, it is still our responsibility as human beings to be respectfully and compassionate to one another. If that means acting differently for a period of time -- i.e. not celebrating Halloween -- then that's something worthy that we should commit to.”

As an Itaewon business owner, Pinnacle has chosen not to hold any events for Halloween this year. “Considering that 159 families lost a member, it would be well advised not to publicly participate in Halloween festivities this year,” he said. “This is a heavy load to bear for everyone involved, including the Itaewon business owners.”

He is in an extra difficult situation, as his bar opened last year on that fateful Halloween weekend. “Our impeccable timing has led us down a path of hardship that we've endured for close to a year,” he said. “Though we will not be having any Halloween festivities out of respect to our peers that are no longer with us, we will be having a first birthday celebration to show regard and appreciation to those that have supported us and given us life throughout this arduous period.”

Just as the spring 2020 COVID-19 outbreak in Itaewon benefited nightlife in other areas such as downtown Seoul, delinking Halloween and Itaewon may give an advantage to other parts of the city. It’s likely that Halloween parties will continue in other parts of Seoul. Halloween concerts are already being advertised around Hongik University, and Global Seoul Mates is advertising a “Zombie Factory Halloween Party” in Gangnam.

However, Sarah emphasized that skipping Halloween in Itaewon this year isn’t in the best interests of the community. “Keeping things quiet to ‘pay respects’ has killed off dozens of businesses and communities in Itaewon this past year, she pointed out. “The best way to actually show respect to Itaewon and help ensure its survival would be to celebrate responsibly ― and spend locally. I hope people don’t stop coming to Itaewon or having fun on Halloween ― a lot of local restaurants, bars, venues and entertainers depend on Halloween to stay afloat.”

Ouwehand thinks Halloween will be subdued this year, and maybe for the next few years, but he doesn’t think it will disappear permanently. “The fact is, Halloween parties are profitable,” he said. “Eventually the people who make money from selling costumes, drinks and candies have the incentive to bring Halloween back.”

Many of the people interviewed called for a memorial to be set up at the disaster site, so it will not be forgotten, and maybe also to prompt appropriate behavior in others.

A memorial is set up for victims of last year's Itaewon crowd disaster in front of Seoul City Hall, Oct. 8. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

“It makes sense to me to put up some kind of a memorial in that alley, or perhaps hold some kind of event somewhere in Itaewon for anyone who wants to pay tribute to the disaster,” said Ouwehand, who plans to spend Halloween weekend at home with his family and close friends.

“My big hunch is that Itaewon will become a site of memorialization, and people are going to pay respect in the ways that they feel are appropriate,” Hurt said. “That might even involve putting on costumes and pouring out symbolic offerings to people lost in the crush.”

“I, for one, plan on celebrating but also on remembering,” Sarah said. “Both are necessary for our beautiful community to heal from this terrible tragedy.”