Safety Mats Laid Only After Tightrope Walker's Fall in Anseong

A tightrope walker (eoreumsani) performing at the Namsadang Baudeogi Festival in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, fell about 2.5 meters on the morning of the 2nd at around 11:40 a.m., after a support pole holding up the rope toppled over. No safety mats had been installed at the performance venue, and the city of Anseong laid them down only after the accident. The walker was treated at a hospital and discharged.

According to Anseong City on the 3rd, no separate mats had been placed until now in consideration of the nature of traditional tightrope performances. Within the city government, the installation of safety mats had been recommended to the department in charge of the festival on multiple occasions, but this never led to actual installation. An Anseong City official said, "Within the city government, the installation of safety mats was recommended to the festival department several times, but it was not adopted on the grounds that the nature of traditional tightrope performances had to be taken into account." The official added, "Following this accident, we have reexamined the safety management and emergency response systems across the festival grounds and reinforced safety measures."

The Baudeogi Festival is a representative traditional culture festival of the Anseong region, based on Namsadang Nori, which is inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list. It runs through the 5th.