A outdoor festival venue is left empty on Sunday after its cancellation, in Gokseong County, South Jeolla Province. (Yonhap)
A series of cultural events and concerts scheduled for the remaining Halloween weekend and into early November have been canceled following Saturday’s deadly crowd crush in Itaewon.
The Culture Ministry announced that the first two sessions of the four-part classical concert series scheduled to be held at Cheong Wa Dae’s Yeongbingwan on Tuesday and Friday have been canceled.
A Gucci fashion show expected to be held with some 500 guests visiting from in and outside the country on Tuesday at Gyeongbokgung's Geunjeongjeon has also been canceled, its agency reported Sunday.
Leading K-pop agency SM Entertainment called off its annual Halloween party, “SMTown Wonderland 2022,” which was scheduled to be held in-person Sunday for the first time in four years.
The "Busan One Asia Festival," one of the largest K-pop festivals in the country, canceled the final day's event on Sunday. Popular groups (G)I-dle, Mamamoo, Le Sserafim and Pentagon were among the performers to take the stage.
A global conference for the music industry and platforms, Moving the World With Music, also scheduled to take place in Busan on Thursday and Friday, has been postponed.
A tribute concert of Michael Jackson titled "The King of Pop," a replica of the MJ Live show, was scheduled to land in Korea for the first time next month. The tour has been postponed to next year.
“As a promoter, it is not conscientious to proceed with a concert in Korea in the wake of the tragic deaths in Itaewon," Lee Kwang-ho, chief executive officer of Shangri-La Entertainment, the tour’s local promoter, told The Korea Herald. "We decided to cancel MJ Live's November concert to participate in the sadness of the entire world."
Trot singer Jang Yoon-jeong and K-pop star Kim Jae-joong also canceled their concerts.
A bouquet of flowers is attached to a storefront near the site of the previous night's deadly accident in Seoul’s Itaewon district, Sunday (Yonhap)
Major theme parks have joined in the national mourning.
Everland, the country’s largest outdoor theme park, canceled its Halloween party that kicked off on Sept. 2. The Halloween festival was intended to run until Nov. 20. Starting Sunday, Everland will not run any scheduled Halloween-related programs, which included parades, street performances and fireworks.
Lotte World, a major recreation complex in Seoul, also took down all information related to Halloween events from its official website. Lotte World Adventure had been showcasing the show “Horror Halloween: The Expansion” from Sept. 2, featuring zombies and a trick-or-treat parade.
Legoland Korea Resort in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, said it has canceled its Halloween party and all related events. Legoland had been running the “Halloween Monster Party” since Sept. 16.
In Seoul, the last day of Walking Festival on Jamsu Bridge, a car-free festival held around the areas of Jamsu Bridge, Sebitseom and Banpo Hangang Park every Sunday since Aug. 28, was also canceled. A "plogging" -- picking up litter and jogging -- campaign at the Han River has also been suspended.
The Welcome Daehakro Festival, an annual festival hosted by the Culture Ministry, called off its Halloween-themed closing party at Marronnier Park in Daehangno, Sunday.
“We express our condolences to the victims and their families in relation to yesterday’s Itaewon disaster. We ask for your understanding,” the festival's office said.
A notice of the cancellation of the Walking Festival on Jamsu Bridge is shown on an electronic street board in Itaewon, where police are investigating, Sunday. (Yonhap)
Local governments outside the capital also canceled or suspended regional festivals in every province.
Jeju Tourism Organization canceled Sunday and Monday’s nighttime lighting festival at Sinsan Park in Jeju City. The Jungmun Halloween Festival in Seogwipo also canceled its Sunday program.
The 2022 Unification Walk, which kicked off Friday near the northern border in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, canceled its Sunday's finale program, according to Lee In-young, a former unification minister and member of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea.
Jointly hosted by some 51 lawmakers, participants walk 330 kilometers to Goseong Unification Observation Tower in Gangwon Province on the west coast.
Meanwhile, local broadcasters also expressed their condolences by canceling popular entertainment shows set to air Sunday, including SBS’ weekly music show “Inkigayo” and variety show "Running Man," MBC’s “King of Mask Singer” and KBS' “National Singing Contest."
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