The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Tuesday that it will deploy 6,800 safety personnel and expand traffic controls for this year's Seoul International Fireworks Festival, which will run over two days for the first time, featuring a preliminary program on Friday and the main fireworks show on Saturday. The annual festival, launched in 2000, has grown into one of Seoul's largest single-event gatherings, and the move to a two-day format comes as the city has in recent years faced recurring crowd-management challenges at the riverside venue, where spectators far outnumber the surrounding infrastructure's normal capacity.

The main show begins at 8 p.m. Saturday at Yeouido Hangang Park along the Han River. The event, organized by Hanwha Corp. together with the city, typically draws more than 1 million spectators. This year's theme is "Your Infinite Colors," featuring teams from Korea, the United States and Britain.

The city urged visitors to use public transit and to avoid Yeouinaru Station, the subway stop closest to the venue, in favor of the nearby Yeouido, Mapo or Saetgang stations instead.

Wonhyo Bridge will be closed from 9 a.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday, while Yeouidong-ro, the road running from the southern end of Mapo Bridge to the 63 Building, will close from 3 p.m. to midnight Saturday, forcing about two dozen bus routes to be rerouted.

Seoul Subway Line 5 will add 18 extra trips and Line 9 will add 65 during peak hours, with three to five times the usual number of safety personnel stationed at 21 nearby stations. If crowding at Yeouinaru Station becomes severe, trains may pass through without stopping or exits may be closed, the city said. Such stepped-up crowd protocols reflect heightened attention to safety at large gatherings in Korea since the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush, which killed nearly 160 people and prompted authorities nationwide to tighten event-safety planning.

Rental returns for Seoul's public bike-sharing service, as well as other shared e-scooters and bikes, will be suspended in the Yeouido and Ichon areas from Friday morning through Sunday morning. The Hangang River Bus water-taxi service will suspend or shorten operations from Thursday through Saturday for safety reasons, and sections of the river between Seogang and Hangang bridges will be closed to boats at various times.

The city will operate a joint safety command center together with Hanwha, police, fire authorities and four district offices, supported by 45 patrol boats on the river, six emergency medical stations and 94 temporary restrooms. Around 1,200 Hanwha employee volunteers will help clean up the area afterward. Officials also advised residents with respiratory conditions to prepare KF80-rated masks, citing possible temporary spikes in fine dust from the fireworks, a recurring concern at past editions of the festival.

"We've built a tight response system with related agencies so there are no safety blind spots at the venue, subway stations or on the river," an official said. "Please check public transit information in advance and use nearby stations, following safety personnel's guidance."

Visitors planning to attend can expect further details on viewing areas and transit updates from the city and Hanwha's festival channels as the event approaches.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.