[Anchor]

With Halloween coinciding with the weekend for the first time since the Itaewon disaster four years ago, the government has entered a state of emergency preparedness. The crisis alert level has been raised to "Attention," and 7,800 police officers have been deployed to crowded areas nationwide, including Itaewon and Hongdae.

Our first report is by reporter Lee Ho-geon.

[Reporter]

This is the street in Itaewon, Seoul, last night (October 30).

It is bustling with large crowds ahead of Halloween.

Concerns are also being raised regarding the weekend Halloween, the first since the Itaewon disaster.

[Choi Min-gyu / Itaewon Merchant: There are many cautious aspects ahead of Halloween. I just hope that visiting customers can enjoy themselves safely without getting hurt and head home.]

The police, along with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, upgraded the crisis alert level to "Attention" and stepped into safety management.

Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-jung visited the area in front of Hongdae, a densely crowded district, to emphasize safety management.

[Yoon Ho-jung / Minister of the Interior and Safety: We have selected 28 densely crowded areas nationwide and established separate measures for them. We are dispatching division head-level officials from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety as on-site situation managers….]

Earlier yesterday morning, acting National Police Agency Commissioner General Kim Jong-chul personally visited the Itaewon site to inspect crowd control measures.

The police selected 28 key management areas nationwide, including 14 locations in Seoul, and deployed approximately 7,800 personnel.

In Itaewon, police special forces armored vehicles and police dogs have even been stationed to prepare for any unexpected contingencies.

In congested sections, pathways will be separated to induce one-way traffic and block the inflow of crowds.

The police plan to intensively crack down on imitation police uniforms on the streets that could potentially cause confusion among people, and also step up enforcement against mock firearms or weapons.

(Video by Bae Moon-san | Video Editing by Kim Jun-hee)