NJ Korean families desperately call relatives after Seoul Halloween stampede

As soon as Yena Choe learned about the stampede in Seoul on Saturday, she began calling her relatives in South Korea. More than 150 people died and more than 130 were injured while celebrating Halloween in the Itaewon district.

She reached out to her grandparents, aunts and uncles to make sure the family was OK. No one was injured in her family, but the situation left Choe shaken.

"It's very unfortunate," said Choe, 17, a Leonia High School senior. "This is something that could have been prevented. There seems to have been no master plan."

According to Korean media, Seoul's Itaewon district, which caters to expatriates and other international visitors, was hosting Halloween celebrations that had drawn more than 100,000 people when the crowd began to rush. They were in a narrow alley with bars and restaurants when the stampede began. At least two Americans are among those killed.

The tragedy hits home for North Jersey's Korean American community. The boroughs of Palisades Park, Leonia and Fort Lee have among the largest Korean American populations in the U.S., with Palisades Park nicknamed Koreatown.

The stampede was all the talk in Korean American circles in North Jersey on Sunday morning, said District 37 Assemblywoman Ellen Park, who represents Palisades Park, Leonia and Fort Lee. An immigrant from South Korea, Park checked in with her parents, who are currently visiting Seoul, as well as other relatives. She has nieces and nephews who are in their 20s. Fortunately, they are safe, Park said.

Seoul is an old city with narrow alleys where people like to gather, Park explained. Halloween has a bigger influence because Itaewon is an area near the U.S. military base with many expats, she said.

Park thinks Koreans are suffering from COVID fatigue, with young people wanting to get out to celebrate. This is the first time in almost three years that Koreans have been fully free to gather in a large public setting.

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Palisades Park has an Asian population of 59%, with Broad Avenue filled with Korean businesses from karaoke bars to restaurants. Fort Lee and Leonia each have an Asian population of almost 40%. Korean is commonly spoken in the three boroughs, with immigrants choosing to move to the areas due to the services. Data from the 2020 U.S. census shows that there are 104,842 Koreans in New Jersey, up from 93,679 in 2010. More than 1 million New Jersey residents identified as Asian, a 44% increase from the 725,726 who identified as Asian in the 2010 census.

Palisades Park Councilman Chong Paul Kim, the Democratic nominee for mayor, said the Korean community is in shock as to how this could have happened.

"It was like the wild, wild west," Kim said. "It was an avalanche."

Kim said residents are questioning why the government didn't better prepare exit points.

Korean American Fort Lee Councilman Paul Yoon expressed his sorrow at the tragic incident, which he said is a public safety issue.

"My heart goes out to the victims and their families and friends," Yoon said. "I hope everyone can learn from this tragedy and we can put some measures in place to prevent these types of incidents in the future."

Korean foreign exchange student Annie Seong, 20, talked to her friends in Itaewon about the incident. They told her the scene was chaotic. They could not get a cab out of Itaewon. Bodies were strewn on streets, with people performing CPR.

Seong, a native of Seoul, is a junior at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and a member of the Asian American Youth Council of Tenafly.

The Korean American community in the Garden State is in mourning, Park said. There are many questions that need to be answered, she added.

"What made the stampede occur?" Park asked. "That's what we need to find out. I pray that the number of deaths don't go up."

Mary Chao covers the Asian communities of North Jersey.

Email: mchao@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Korean community shaken by Seoul Halloween stampede