[르포]”Is Halloween that important?” … The youth going out

Halloween weekend, Itaewon, Hongdae, etc.
Disaster prevention measures such as masks and distances are stories from other countries
Grasshopper jumps from Hongdae to Itaewon and back to Gangnam

[아시아경제 유병돈 기자, 이정윤 기자] “Do the young people know Danoje? I take care of more than Korean vacations. “

At 11:40 pm on Halloween 31st, taxi driver Baek Mo (57) smiled at reporters who took a taxi from Itaewon Station in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, to the entrance of Hongik University. Mr. Baek, who traveled between Itaewon and Hongdae four times tonight alone, said: “70-80% in Itaewon and more than 50% in Hongdae were full of young people with grotesque makeup.” I do not know.”

The fear of a group infection from the Itaewon club that struck the metropolitan area in May this year disappeared from memory. The main entertainment districts in central Seoul on Halloween were young people to enjoy the last days of October, and it was hard to even find a chance to step on it.

Itaewon attracts more than 100,000 people each Halloween. The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (Corona 19) infection was expected to be in triple digits over several days, resulting in fewer crowds than usual, but it was a far away country for young people between the ages of 20 and 20. 30 years. The main clubs located here were terrified by warnings from quarantine authorities to suspend operations and shut down operations immediately. Then those who visited Itaewon made their way to the lounge bar and the hunting pots.

Those walking the streets dressed as foreign movie leads or ghosts were busy taking commemorative photos with first-time viewers in their half-naked or completely naked masks. There were dozens of stalls for Halloween makeup, including face painting, in all the main alleys of Itaewon. Of course, there was no distance between those who came and went through the alleys of Itaewon as the crowd gathered. Kim Chae-won (23, female), who visited Itaewon that day, said, “I had a meeting with my friends after a long time and Halloween day overlapped me.”

At the same time, the Mapo-gu Hongdae Cultural Park (children’s playground). This place was also full of hundreds of young people who gathered to enjoy Halloween Day. There were no quarantine rules for them, such as distance and wearing masks. Smoking or having conversations without wearing a mask. In addition, people were also seen everywhere drinking, screaming and hugging people side by side.

A cafe near KT&G Sangsangmadang, where most of the young people gather, was packed with people wearing makeup the next day at 3am on day 1. Most of the people who visited the cafe were not wearing masks due to makeup on their faces. A mask must be worn except when drinking a beverage, but these quarantine rules were not followed at all. When they lined up to order drinks, the distance of more than 1 m was not observed.

Those who forgot the quarantine did not stay in one place. Some of them were eager to travel between Hongdae, Itaewon and Gangnam in search of the so-called “good water” places. Young men dressed as doctors and nurses, as sarcastic about the Corona 19 incident near Hongik University station, called a taxi and stopped and said, “It’s silly, let’s go to Gangnam.”

The situation was similar in the vicinity of the Gangnam station they were heading to. The main clubs here also temporarily closed their businesses, but some shops where you can drink and dance were packed waiting for entry. The hunting pots lined around Gangnam station were also full of young people who flocked to the club. Government-recommended quarantine guidelines, such as the distance between seats and the use of indoor masks, were not observed at all.

The situation on the street was more serious. The BJs of individual broadcasts wearing Halloween makeup were busy interviewing citizens without masks. Also, those who took to the streets focused on hunting with their group or people at the raw noodle site.

Just 20 days after social distancing eased to stage 1. Downtown Seoul on Halloween was a lawless heaven and earth that forgot about Corona 19.

Reporter Yoo Byung-don [email protected]
Reporter Lee Jung-yoon [email protected]