Peacetime disasters are disasters that are unrelated to war and terrorism. South Korea lives in the shadow of 3 significant peacetime disasters in recent history: the Sampoong Department Store Collapse (1995), Daegu Subway Fire (2003) and the Sinking of Sewol Ferry (2014). Unfortunately, the death tolls of these disasters were heightened by poor emergency protocols, incompetence and/or corruption of high ranking officials. These disasters represent the dark side to modern Korea and the endemic โculture of obedience.โ However, the globalisation of Korean culture and open-mindedness of younger generations may see modern Korea recover and learn from these disasters.
Following the Korean war, Seoul underwent a period of rapid expansion and rebuild. What was a broken city was now a front runner on the global financial stage. Seoul was bathing in the glow of financial hubs like London, Zurich and Shanghai. Furthermore, Seoul stole the spotlight as host of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games. However, the cityโs new-found success placed high pressure on domestic property developers. Many construction firms cut safety corners in the name of speed and profit, and the consequences were lethal. Several building collapses claimed lives in Korea in the 90s, but none more devastating than the Sampoong Department Store Collapse.
A pink symbol of Koreaโs economic boom, Sampoong was a luxury department store in Seoulโs affluent Seocho district. It was originally designed as a 4-story apartment building. However, chairman of Sampoong group Lee Joon changed the plans to build a mall. His changes included the addition of a 5th floor, removal of support columns to make room for escalators and reduction in column width. Although his changes violated several building safety codes, Lee Joon used bribery to see his plans through, firing those who refused him. Eventually, the illustrious Sampoong Department Store was built in 1989.
As of 2021, the Sampoong Dept. Store Collapse is the largest peacetime disaster in Korean history. It was the deadliest building collapse in the world before the collapse of the World Trade Centres in 2001.
โIn foreign countries, company chairmen take the lead in holding fire and disaster drillsโฆ Korea has experience the Sampoong and Seongsu Bridge collapses, but itโs still hard to find such practices.โ
Gyeong Gwang Suk, rescue worker at Sampoong Department Store Collapse [interview with Korea JoongAng Daily, 2005]
References: Dyrud, MA (2011) Familiarizing the Unknown: Three Unusual Engineering Cases, p22.710.1 - 22.710.16, ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver BC Kong, K (2014) South Korea's History of Building Collapses, The Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com/articles/BL-KRTB-5019 (Access date: 20/07/21) [3] Ser, MJ and Sohn, HY (2005) Department store disaster remembered 10 years later, Korea JoongAng Daily, koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2005/06/28/socialAffairs/Department-store-disaster-remembered-10-years-later/2587101.html (Access date: 20/07/21)