The International Fireworks Festival is under way in Seoul, Saturday, Oct. 7. Newsis

A large-scale international fireworks festival took place in Seoul, Saturday, drawing a crowd of about 1 million people as the city government beefed up measures to ensure public safety, officials said.

Under the theme "Lights of Tomorrow," the 2023 Seoul International Fireworks Festival, organized by Hanwha Group, was held at the Han River Park in Yeouido.

The annual event featured two teams from Korea and China, and around 400 drones were mobilized for the massive fireworks display, Hanwha officials said.

Poland was supposed to showcase fireworks but was unable to do so due to technical issues.

This year's event deployed the largest number of barges yet for the biggest-ever international fireworks event, the officials added.

The event was livestreamed on its official YouTube channel, Hanwha TV, as well as on its exclusive app, Orange Play.

Considering the huge crowd, the Seoul municipal government established a comprehensive safety headquarters at the event venue and increased personnel in charge of crowd control and other safety steps by 26 percent compared with last year.

Emergency medical arrangements were in place, and parts of the roads on Yeouido were completely blocked off from 2 p.m. through 11 p.m.

Hanwha said it also dispatched 3,400 officials and volunteer workers to the venue, 20 percent more than a year earlier, and installed more surveillance cameras for enhanced monitoring of large crowds. (Yonhap)