• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.96-103
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• 2023

Generally, human stampedes and crowd collapses occur when people press against each other, causing falls that may result in death or injury. Particularly, crowd accidents have become increasingly common since the 1990s, with an average of 380 deaths annually. For instance, in Korea, a stampede occurred during the Itaewon Halloween festival on October 29, 2022, when several people crowded onto a narrow, downhill road, which was 45 meters long and between 3.2 and 4 meters wide. Precisely, this stampede was primarily due to the excessive number of people relative to the road size. Essentially, stampedes can occur anywhere and at any time, not just at events, but also in other places where large crowds gather. More specifically, the likelihood of accidents increases when the crowd density exceeds a turbulence threshold of 5-6 /m². Meanwhile, festivals and events, which have become more frequent and are promoted through social media, garner people from near and far to a specific location. Besides, as cities grow, the number of people gathering in one place increases. While stampedes are rare, their impact is significant, and the uncertainty associated with them is high. Currently, there is no scientific system to analyze the risk of stampedes due to crowd concentration. Consequently, to prevent such accidents, it is essential to prepare for crowd disasters that reflect social changes and regional characteristics. Hence, this study proposes using digital topographic maps and crowd-density risk simulations to develop a 3D model of the region. Specifically, the crowd density simulation allows for an analysis of the density of people walking along specific paths, which enables the prediction of danger areas and the risk of crowding. By using the simulation method in this study, it is anticipated that safety measures can be rationally established for specific situations, such as local festivals, and preparations may be made for crowd accidents in downtown areas.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.87-95
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• 2023

On October 29, 2022, a very large number of people gathered in Itaewondong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Korea for a Halloween festival, and as crowds pushed through narrow alleys, 159 deaths and 195 injuries occurred, making it the largest crushing incident in Korea. There have been a number of stampede deaths where crowds gathered at large-scale festivals, event venues, and stadiums, both at home and abroad. When the density increases, the physical contact between bodies becomes very strong, and crowd turbulence occurs when the force of the crowd is suddenly added from one body to another; thus, the force is amplified and causes the crowd to behave like a mass of fluid. When crowd turbulence occurs, people cannot control themselves and are pushed into he crowd. To prevent a stampede accident, investigation and management of areas expected to be crowded and congested must be systematically conducted, and related ministries and local governments are planning to establish a crowd management system to prepare safety management measures to prevent accidents involving multiple crowds. In this study, based on national data, a continuous digital topographic map is modeled in 3D to analyze the risk of crowding and present a plan for selecting high-risk walking routes. Areas with a high risk of crowding are selected in advance based on various data (numerical data, floating population, and regional data) in a realistic and feasible way, and the analysis is based on the visible results from 3D modeling of the risk area. The study demonstrates that it is possible to prepare measures to prevent cluster accidents that can reflect the characteristics of the region.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.379-389
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• 2024

Purpose and Method: Crowed Events can lead to sudden accidents caused by unpredictable variables. Therefore, focusing on the '10.29 Itaewon accident' among the representative cases, we examined the accident as the process of occurrence. In addition, improvement measures were suggested through analysis of related legal systems. Result: In the Itaewon accident, a "colony wave phenomenon" occurred due to "ultra-high-density cluster stay". In addition, cluster destruction occurred from a weak location in the cluster due to clusters and pressures in different directions to avoid this. Looking at the laws related to the safety management of Crowed Events, the laws and regulations differ depending on the location and type. Due to the complementary nature of the approach to the legal blind spot, the legal system that uses similar terms of the same concept and is not systematic is causing uncertainty in the application and interpretation of the law. Conclusion: Crowd control and on-site management should be carried out for events when the cluster density is expected to reach 8 people/m² or reached. Consistency should be maintained through the unified application of legislation to related legislation.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.158-170
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• 2012

Citizens'income has been increased along with the trend of rapid changes in society, and the quality of their lives has been improved as well. As much as the degree of increase of quality of life, the number of spectators for performing art events, etc. who desire to fulfill their needs for enjoyment of varied cultural performances have been increasing, and also a large number of spectators enjoys a variety of festivals being held in each provincial area as well as international events: we still remember such frantic rooting shown by citizens during 2002 World Cup drawing attention and interest of entire nation. There are always risks of loss of human lives if accidents occur as there sult of close-packed crowd gathered at the same time. Therefore, it is required to prepare adequate security measures in order to prevent various accidents before hand. It is hoped that this research work would be of help for further efficient and systematic security management for the performing arts centers or public theaters encouraging the event organizer and the private security firm and the Korea Private Security Association to exert great effort and investments in further projects for development of security technology. Also, it is required to build a performance culture to consider audience's safety first from the beginning to the end of the event on the basis of efficient security management. Furthermore, spect at or sare required to recognize the fact that safety in the site for performing arts should be guaranteed for everyone's sake, and, to achieve this, they are obliged to be more cooperative with the event organizer and the private security firm, forming a trinity all together, in order not to have safety threatening situations in the site of performing arts events.