President Yoon Suk-yeol held a weekly meeting on Monday with the prime minister as well as the interior and health ministers to discuss their response to the tragedy that took place in Seoul on Saturday, South Korean Yonhap news agency reported, citing his deputy spokesman.
"President Yoon stressed the need to come up with a crowd accident prevention safety control system for use during spontaneous group events that, like in this instance, do not have an organizer," Lee Jae-myoung told reporters.
Rules require organizers of mass events to draw up a safety plan and run it by local authorities and the police. An unorganized event would reportedly require police to adopt minimal safety measures at their discretion.
Many of those crushed as thousands of Halloween partygoers tried to squeeze into a narrow street lined with bars and restaurants were in their 20s. The president promised a thorough investigation and assistance with funerals and medical treatment.