Interior ministry to oversee safety at Busan fireworks festival expecting over 1 million

The interior ministry will send its disaster safety chief to Busan on Saturday to preside over an inter-agency safety meeting and inspect the site of the city's fireworks festival, an event that draws more than 1 million visitors each year.

Kim Kwang-yong, head of the ministry's disaster and safety management headquarters, will chair the meeting at the on-site command post at Gwangalli Beach, where the 21st Busan Fireworks Festival runs from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The meeting will focus on crowd management from the moment visitors enter the site until they disperse after the show, along with traffic control, the deployment of safety personnel and plans for moving emergency patients to hospital. Officials will also review multilingual guidance and interpretation services for foreign visitors.

This year organizers expect unusually large numbers of overseas spectators, with more than 8,000 paid seats sold abroad, the ministry said.

After the meeting, Kim plans to walk the festival grounds to review the equipment and staffing deployed for the event, including elevated observation vehicles, LED display trucks directing crowd flow, stilt-walking police officers and the routes used by medical booths and ambulances. He will also examine the coast guard's plans for the water, including the separation of viewing zones, control and safety areas and the positioning of patrol vessels, to prevent accidents involving international passenger ships and tour boats from which people watch the display.

A joint inspection involving the Busan city government, the Nam, Haeundae and Suyeong district offices, police, fire and coast guard authorities, Busan Transportation Corporation and the festival organizing committee is to cover crowd control, traffic, emergency rescue and facility safety. Any risks identified are to be fixed before the festival begins.

"The government will do its utmost to manage safety on site so that everyone who visits the Busan fireworks festival can return home with happy memories," Kim said. "I also ask the public to cooperate actively with the guidance of safety staff on site so that we can make the festival a safe one together."