Signs show cancellation of Halloween-related programs at a children's festival in Gokseong, South Jeolla Province, Sunday, following a deadly crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon area the previous night. Yonhap

By Kim Rahn

Parties and events scheduled for the remaining Halloween weekend have been canceled in the aftermath of Saturday's deadly crowd crush in Itaewon, a major nightlife district in central Seoul.

The cancellations are to prevent any possibility of further tragedies from taking place and out of respect for the large number of people who died. President Yoon Suk-yeol announced a period of national mourning that would last until Nov. 5 in response to the accident.

Everland, a theme park in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, said Sunday that it had closed its Halloween festival that began on Sept. 2 and had been slated to continue until Nov. 20. Its annual Halloween festival is a famous event, which sees a section of the theme park take on a spooky theme.

The park halted all related programs, including a parade featuring classic Halloween characters such as skeletons and witches.

"We regret the accident in Itaewon and express our condolences. We are stopping the Halloween festival and will recheck safety systems," the theme park said in a statement.

Lotte World, another theme park located in southeastern Seoul, also scrapped its Halloween-themed events and removed all information about them from its website.