AI, drones guard nightlife districts as Seoul ramps up Halloween safety measures

The Korea Times - Oct 22, 2026

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will deploy artificial intelligence crowd (AI)-monitoring cameras, airborne drones and mobile command buses across 14 major nightlife hubs starting Friday as part of an intensive safety management campaign ahead of Halloween. The special safety management period, running from Friday through Nov. 1, comes as city officials brace for large weekend crowds fueled by a surge in international tourism. Monthly foreign visitor arrivals to Korea recently topped 2 million for three consecutive months, bringing total inbound travel between May and September past 10 million. The heightened vigilance reflects lingering national trauma from the October 2022 crowd crush in Itaewon, which claimed 159 lives in a narrow, sloped alleyway. That tragedy prompted a sweeping overhaul of Korea’s municipal safety protocols, transforming Halloween from a loosely managed commercial event into one of the country's most heavily policed and technologically monitored public gatherings. The targeted zones include eight high-density priority areas — Itaewon, Hongdae, Seongsu-dong,

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