The crowd at the 2017 Seoul International Fireworks Festival on Saturday were treated to breathtaking blooms of fire-flowers, as they are called in Korean.
Teams representing the US, Italy and Korea took turns showing their best-coordinated fireworks.
Unfortunately, as events like this attract large crowds, the following morning showed the not-so-beautiful side to the show.
Heaps of garbage were thrown away nearby the southern end of the Wonhyo Bridge in Yeouido. (Yonhap)
Garbage were thrown away at a bus stop in front of the event area. (Yonhap)
In the area street cleaners faced mounds of garbage haphazardly thrown away by the 1 million-strong crowd that attended the event.
In order to prevent this, Hanwha, who organized the event, had precautionary measures in place on the night of the event; plastic refuse bags were handed out and warnings were issued to only dispose of waste at designated zones. However, it seems the effort largely went ignored.
By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)
