Pikachu Parade in Seoul Draws Mobs

by REERA YOO

Hundreds of South Koreans flocked to Seoul’s Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) this past weekend to catch a Pikachu, or at least a snapshot of one.

The Pikachu parade, which was a part of a two-day Pokemon Champions Day, celebrated the first Korean pro-gamer to win the Pokemon Video Game World Championships. While a similar event was held in Yokohama, Japan back in August, it didn’t attract a mob of people waiting to pounce on 10 adorable Pikachu mascots like Seoul’s parade did.

According to the Korea Times, the crowd turnout at the plaza was so huge that it prompted safety concerns, which led to two of the four parades to being cancelled.

“The police were worried about the crowd and how it could have led to a possible stampede,” said an event organizer. “So we decided to hold 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. parades only, and cancelled the 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. shows.”

Here are some photos from the event:

피카츄 출근길 & 퇴근길 ㅋㅋㅋ pic.twitter.com/uDuAO5ZJg3

— みなさん (@minaminazv) November 15, 2014

[잘 가 러버덕, 안녕 피카츄] 오늘 오후 서울 중구 동대문 디자인 플라자 어울림광장에서 열린 ‘피카츄 쇼타임’ 행사에 많은 시민들이 몰려… pic.twitter.com/McHNcTWyJK — MBCnews(문화방송뉴스) (@mbcnews) November 15, 2014