Holidays · 16 October 2026 · 5 min read
Halloween in Korea: costumes, crowds and what changed in 2022
Halloween came to Korea late and grew quickly, as a night out for people in their twenties rather than an evening for children. It is also the date of the deadliest crowd crush in the country's history, and both facts shape what Halloween in Korea looks like now.
A night out, not trick or treat
There is no door-to-door tradition. Most people in Korean cities live in large apartment blocks, and nobody expects children at the door asking for sweets. Halloween arrived through two routes instead. English kindergartens and academies hold costume days for their pupils, and bars, clubs and theme parks made it a party, with haunted houses, parades and a whole season of events through October.
For adults it is a costume night out in the districts known for nightlife, Itaewon and Hongdae in Seoul above all. The costume words are borrowed from English: 코스튬 (koseutyum) is the outfit, and 핼러윈 (haelleowin) is the spelling the National Institute of Korean Language recommends, though 할로윈 is just as common on posters. 분장 (bunjang), the word a theatre uses, is the make-up side of dressing up.
Itaewon, 29 October 2022
On the Saturday night before Halloween in 2022, tens of thousands of people came to Itaewon in Seoul, and 159 people died in a crowd crush in a narrow, sloping alley off the main street. Most of them were young, and visitors from abroad were among them.
Halloween has been quieter since. Many shops, brands and venues stopped marketing it, and some people simply stay away. Each year the police and local governments now run crowd-safety operations in the busiest districts. In 2025 Seoul's police put close to 5,000 officers on the streets between 24 October and 2 November, ran control rooms in districts from Itaewon and Hongdae to Myeongdong and Gangnam, and closed some roads to cars when the crowds grew.
If a street feels too full, leave it early, by the way the staff point.
The signs worth knowing
In the busy districts at the end of October you will see staff, police and signs managing the crowd, and most of the signs are short stacks of nouns. 일방통행 (ilbangtonghaeng) is "one way", the same word as on a one-way street sign, and 우측 통행 (ucheuk tonghaeng) is "keep right". Over loudspeakers you will hear 멈추지 마세요 (meomchuji maseyo), "please don't stop", and 밀지 마세요 (milji maseyo), "please don't push".
Two numbers to keep in your phone: 112 for the police and 119 for the fire and ambulance service. The authorities also ask people not to dress as police officers or firefighters, so that the real ones can be found in a crowd.
At a party
With people you have just met, polite Korean is the safe level. 무슨 코스튬이에요? (museun koseutyumieyo?), "what costume is it?", is the natural way to ask what someone is dressed as, and the answer is the character plus 이에요 or 예요: 저는 마녀예요 (jeoneun manyeoyeyo), "I am a witch". 코스튬 진짜 멋있어요 (koseutyum jinjja meosisseoyo) is "great costume".
Ask before you take anyone's photo, and again before you post it. People in Korea mind about their faces appearing online. 사진 찍어도 돼요? (sajin jjigeodo dwaeyo?) is "may I take a photo?", and the photographer counts down in native Korean numbers: 하나, 둘, 셋 (hana, dul, set).
If you are in Korea for Halloween
- Halloween falls on a Saturday in 2026, so expect the busiest districts to be at their fullest that night and the weekend before.
- Theme parks and smaller neighbourhoods are a calmer way to see the costumes than the main nightlife streets.
- Follow the one-way routes and the staff directions, even when the street looks empty enough.
- Do not dress as the police, a firefighter or a medic.
- Ask before you photograph anyone.