Seoul International Fireworks Festival Draws 1 Million Spectators, Hosted by Hanwha Group

SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) -- Some 1 million spectators visited the country's largest annual fireworks show in Seoul, its organizers said Sunday, with many more believed to have enjoyed the annual event from a distance.

The Seoul International Fireworks Festival in Seoul's Yeouido wrapped up successfully Saturday, according to Hanwha Group.

Some 300 families of national heroes and war veterans were invited to the event also broadcasted live on the group's official YouTube channel, which garnered 2.68 million views with peak concurrent users reaching 260,000.

The group, which shouldered the entire cost of some 13 billion won (US$9.66 million) for the show, said it had made all-out efforts to ensure crowd safety, spending around 4.5 billion won for safety management alone.

Around 5,000 safety personnel, including some 1,200 volunteers from Hanwha affiliates, were deployed at the scene for crowd control, the largest number ever in the event's history of over 20 years.

The defense-to-ship building conglomerate added it also partnered with local telecommunication operators for real-time measurement of crowd density and CCTV monitoring.

Hanwha Group has been hosting the annual fireworks festival since 2000.