Halloween-themed items are left abandoned at Sinsan Park on the country’s southern island of Jeju on Oct. 30, 2022, after the cancellation of a local festival following a stampede disaster during Halloween celebrations in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 31 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean businesses have canceled their Halloween promotional events as the country mourns the death of more than 150 people in a massive stampede in central Seoul, companies said Monday.
Lotte Department Store, a leading shopping mall, said it has called off its plans to hold Halloween parades and run pop-up stores at its Jamsil branch. Posters and promotional images for those events have been removed.
Shinsegae Department Store and Hyundai Department Store also joined the move, canceling all Halloween programs and getting rid of decorations.
Local theme parks, including Lotte World Adventure and Everland, have suspended all Halloween events from Sunday morning, while Starbucks Korea said it has wrapped up its promotions for Halloween drinks.
At least 154 people were killed in the crowd surge during Halloween celebrations in the popular nightlife district of Itaewon on Saturday night, with dozens more injured.
The South Korean government has designated a weeklong national mourning period through Saturday, with flags at half-mast at government buildings and public offices across the country during the period.
A message of mourning is pasted on a wall on Oct. 31, 2022, near the site of the Oct. 29 Itaewon crowd crush. (Yonhap)
Samsung Electronics Co., the No. 1 home appliances maker, scrapped its plan to hold a Halloween promotional party in Seoul last weekend and stopped releasing its SmartThings brand advertisements.
LG Electronics Inc. has also canceled all Halloween promotional events and removed related posters and decorations from its local stores across the country.
Kakao Corp., the operator of No. 1 mobile messenger KakaoTalk, has wrapped up its Halloween discount events on the chat application.
Kakao and Naver Corp., the country’s largest internet portal operator, have opened special spaces for online mourning and grieving on their mobile apps.
(Yonhap)
