Fireworks show lights up Seoul skies

South Korea's largest annual fireworks display took place in Seoul on Saturday night, illuminating the city's skies during a cool early autumn evening. Known as the Seoul International Fireworks Festival, organized by Hanwha Group, the event commenced shortly after 8 p.m. in Seoul's Yeouido district, attracting an estimated 530,000 spectators, according to both Hanwha and police reports.

This year's show was three weeks earlier than usual, primarily due to Chuseok, the Korean harvest holiday, which was scheduled to arrive later in the month. The festival, launched in 2000, was titled "Find Your Light" for this edition. For the first time, the event featured fireworks teams from three different countries: South Korea's Hanwha Corp., the United States, and the United Kingdom.

The festivities kicked off with the British team, whose fireworks synchronized to the melody of "Soda Pop" from the original soundtrack of the Netflix blockbuster, KPop Demon Hunters. Following them was the U.S. team, whose fireworks were set off while "O Fortuna" played in the background. The South Korean team concluded the night's performance, delivering a spectacular display in its final 20 minutes that left the audience in awe.