In light of the Seoul stampede tragedy in Itaewon that killed at least 150 people, BTS’ agency Big Hit announced they would be postponing all the activities scheduled for Jin’s recent release Astronaut with Coldplay. The agency took to Twitter and confirmed that the listening party and the release of the lyric video of his recent song have been postponed to a later date.
The tweet read, “We would like to inform you that the event and content below have been postponed. 12 PM, October 30 (KST) Stationhead Listening Party, 0 AM, October 31 (KST) ‘The Astronaut’ Lyric Video. The changed schedules will be announced through a separate notice. We ask for your generous understanding. Thank you.”
BTS member, J-Hope, who had earlier posted a cheery set of Halloween photos prior to the tragedy, deleted it later as well. Many other regular scheduled shows and programs have been cancelled, including SBS’ Inkigayo. The production team released a statement that the live broadcast would not be airing today (October 30). “Today, October 30, “Inkigayo” will not be airing (Episode 1160). Accordingly, we are informing you that today’s pre-recording and fan admission to the live broadcast has also been cancelled. We ask for your generous understanding. Thank you,” the statement read.
The agency SM Entertainment that represents many popular K-Pop artistes including Girls Generation, NCT and Aespa, cancelled its annual Halloween party in the wake of the tragedy.
The Korea Herald reported that as of 10:30 am (KST), at least 151 people died and over 80 people have been injured after a crowd crush took place in Itaewon, Seoul. The fire department started receiving reports of patients facing difficulty in breathing at 10:22 pm (KST) on Saturday and issued a first-stage response. The response was elevated to stage three at 11:50 p.m KST.
