South Korea: Concerts and events canceled after Seoul stampede – Fears of further hit to economy

All over South Korea cancelingAutumn festival celebrations and K-Pop concerts are being held, while communities across the country are postponing events after the stampede in Seoul that killed at least 154 people.

This development threatens to further affect economic growth. A major K-pop concert, the Busan One Asia Festival, scheduled for Sunday was expected to gather about 40,000 people, was cancelled, while dozens of regional councils across the country canceled local autumn and Halloween celebrations.

Universities canceled weekend trips, known as MTs, and the inaugural event of the Korea Sale Festa, the two-week Korean version of ‘Black Friday’, has been cancelled.

Asia’s fourth-largest economy has entered a period of national mourning that President Yoon Sue-gil has announced will last until Nov. 5, but analysts fear the blow to consumer sentiment caused by grief over the tragedy during the holidays Halloween will not fade quickly and will have a lasting impact on the economy, similar to the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking that killed over 295 peoplei. “This came as consumer sentiment worsened when everyone expected rising interest rates to further hurt consumption,” said Park Sang-hyun, an economist at HI Investment & Securities. “The impact on the climate depends on how long it will take to recover and correct the situation.” In South Korea’s second-largest city, Busan, a major sparkler show scheduled for Nov. 5 was postponed indefinitely, while three major retailers Shinsegae, Lotte Shopping and Hyundai Department Store canceled Halloween promotions. . The island resort of Jeju, in the southern part of the country, canceled the Jeju Olle festival, which was scheduled for November 3 to 5.

The Korea Baseball Organization and the Korea Volleyball Federation said there will be no teams with cheerleaders during the championship. Ministries canceled briefings for journalists, business events were canceled and school day trips were postponed. The finance ministry today advised officials in writing to cancel “non-essential private gatherings”. South Korea’s economic growth already slowed last quarter due to slowing exports and a weaker currency.

In 2014, consumer sentiment deteriorated sharply in May after afrom the sinking of the Sewol ship, while department store sales, moviegoers and theme park visitors declined. “I used to take my parents and children to Nezhangshan National Park for a few days, but not anymore. I don’t feel it’s right to have fun when so many children died and that’s all we see on TV,” said Kim Soon-young, 37, from Seoul.​

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