Idols step up to de-escalate tension as fans face near injuries at '31st Hanteo Music Awards'

Audiences in the standing section faced hazardous conditions at the '31st Hanteo Music Awards.'

On February 18, netizens flooded online forums, sharing witness accounts and fan-captured footage of idols expressing deep concern for the safety of attendees at the prestigious event. The standing pit area at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) descended into chaos, with brawls erupting and near-accidents occurring as fans jostled for position near the artist's stage section.

As seen in the photo below, the crowd pressed tightly in front of the artist's lounge on the right side, exacerbating the dangerous conditions as the pressure among the standing bodies escalated.

Criticism rained down upon the organizers for their failure to partition the standing area into manageable subsections, leaving ample space for such troubling incidents to unfold. As illustrated in the diagram below, only two audience sections were designated on the ground floor.

Idols such as aespa, ATEEZ, and ZEROBASEONE were visibly shocked by the unfolding scenes and maintained constant communication with on-site staff member to prioritize the safety of the audiences.

aespa's Karina was seen informing staff about the dire situation and asking them to provide water for the fans suffering from dehydration.

Similarly, ATEEZ's Mingi rose to report similar incidents to staff members, and ZEROBASEONE's Hanbin paused mid-speech, urging audiences to step back until order was restored.

Netizens flooded the comments section with expressions of concern, shock, and disbelief, echoing widespread dismay at the lack of crowd control measures.

Comments include:

"Have they already forgotten about the Itaewon tragedy?"

"Why haven't they better controlled the standing area??"
"Whose idea was it not to divide up the standing area into different sections?!"
"This is crazy"
"They should have stopped the show so that everyone was safe"
"The organization was so hectic"
"I can't believe how empty that left side looks. Everyone wanted to see the artists sitting on the right side up close"
"The artists all look so worried about their fans"
"It hasn't been long since there was a tragedy due to lack of crowd control and I can't believe their organization was this messy and illogical"
"What are the staff members doing on-site?!"
"Why haven't they used fences??"

What are your thoughts?