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livinginkorea
Joined: 11 Jun 2004
Location: Korea, South of the border
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 Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 4:13 am Post subject: Sampoong Department Store |
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Hey all,
There's a documentary on tonight on Discovery about the Sampoong Dept Store collapsing back in 1995 which killed 501 people. It's on at 11pm. Show be interesting. For anybody who doesn't know about this here is the Wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampoong_Department_Store
-livinginkorea |
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eamo
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
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| Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 5:50 am Post subject: |
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I heard a rumour about that collaspe....
....Minutes before the collaspe the general manager was being told by staff that they were very worried. Large cracks were appearing in the walls. Floors were shifting a little and the whole building was giving out groans. He then ordered that the building be evacuated of all shoppers. However, before giving that order over the tannoy the staff should move the more expensive home appliances outside and then tell the shoppers to run for it.
Many of the lives lost were because of this delay.
I've no idea if that's true. Just a rumour. |
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crazylemongirl
Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Location: almost there...
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| Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 7:04 am Post subject: |
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| Just watched it. Kind of makes me nervous as my neighbor's apartment has a large brown spot (about 30 centimeters in diameter) of what looks like water damage that's started cracking on our shared, loadbearing wall. |
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taobenli
Joined: 26 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 10:14 pm Post subject: |
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I watched it...it was incredible that the woman named Park survived for 16 days trapped under the rubble. She seemed completely calm and collected when retelling the events in front of the camera...I would have liked to hear more about her and other victims than about all the "what caused this disaster?" stuff.
I guess that's just the way I think. I didn't care what actually caused it, as it was clear from the beginning of the documentary that the blame should be placed on the horribly corrupt Sampoong owners (though the inspector who told them that there was "no immediate danger" when the cracks appeared should also have been jailed). The fact that they didn't evacuate the store immediately when the cracks appeared is beyond comprehension...
I think they should have gotten more than a ten year jail sentence (death?). They have the blood of 501 people on their hands....unbelievable...
So if this happened in 1995, did they just get out of jail? |
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livinginkorea
Joined: 11 Jun 2004
Location: Korea, South of the border
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| Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 10:38 pm Post subject: |
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| taobenli wrote: |
So if this happened in 1995, did they just get out of jail? |
I read that the owner got 10 years but 'cas he is so rich I wouldn't be surprised if they were let out early. I read too that there was lots of bribes going on as well into the building company and government. The usual story here!  |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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i saw it. Very disturbing and upsetting.  |
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stalinsdad
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
Location: Jeonju
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| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 12:07 am Post subject: |
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I believe the owner only served 3 years.
It seems strange that it is not being commemorated? |
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pegpig
Joined: 10 May 2005
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| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 12:18 am Post subject: |
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| How in the hell come did I not get it in the Sadangal area? I looked for it last night and couldn't find it and I thought we were getting a whole whack of channels. I'm not happy. We were looking forward to seeing it. |
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crazylemongirl
Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Location: almost there...
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| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 3:32 am Post subject: |
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| stalinsdad wrote: |
I believe the owner only served 3 years.
It seems strange that it is not being commemorated? |
most koreans I know don't tend to want to talk about these kind of things. |
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Gwangjuboy
Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Location: England
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| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 3:36 am Post subject: |
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| I saw it, and was absolutely disgusted that Lee Jun only received a 10 year prsion term. The remarkable part of this story is that Koreans moan when two Americans are cleared of responsibilty for the killing of the two middle school students, but in a Korean court a department store owner only gets 10 years for the deaths of over 500 people! Someone claimed he was released after just 3 years. Any links? If that is a travesty of justice. He should have been shot. |
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SuperHero
Joined: 10 Dec 2003
Location: Superhero Hideout
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| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 4:26 am Post subject: |
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| I tried to find it on bit torrent but no luck. |
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The Lemon
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 5:05 am Post subject: |
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| taobenli wrote: |
I would have liked to hear more about her and other victims than about all the "what caused this disaster?" stuff.
I guess that's just the way I think. I didn't care what actually caused it, as it was clear from the beginning of the documentary that the blame should be placed on the horribly corrupt Sampoong owners.. |
Maybe the "what caused this disaster stuff" isn't the most gripping to watch, but I'm thrilled the country has experienced 10 years of reflection of safety practices and that they're still droning on about it.
Though the owners and builders were primarily to blame, Korea as a whole shared some responsibility for allowing the environment in which this occurred to happen.
This disaster, combined with bridges falling into the Han, several Korean Air crashes, and a series of gruesome fires all in the mid-to-late 1990s contributed to a general sense among Koreans that in their rapid development (and in the greed of corrupt officials and managers) they'd cut too many corners on safety, and not only were Koreans dying, but it was giving the country and its exports a bad name.
The result of the soul-searching? Korea is a much safer country to live in now - driving standards notwithstanding - than it was in 1995. |
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crazylemongirl
Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Location: almost there...
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| Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:06 am Post subject: |
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| The Lemon wrote: |
Maybe the "what caused this disaster stuff" isn't the most gripping to watch, but I'm thrilled the country has experienced 10 years of reflection of safety practices and that they're still droning on about it.
Though the owners and builders were primarily to blame, Korea as a whole shared some responsibility for allowing the environment in which this occurred to happen.
This disaster, combined with bridges falling into the Han, several Korean Air crashes, and a series of gruesome fires all in the mid-to-late 1990s contributed to a general sense among Koreans that in their rapid development (and in the greed of corrupt officials and managers) they'd cut too many corners on safety, and not only were Koreans dying, but it was giving the country and its exports a bad name.
The result of the soul-searching? Korea is a much safer country to live in now - driving standards notwithstanding - than it was in 1995. |
Perhaps but the biggest thing that needs to change is that business relationships need to start falling outside the old confucion way of thinking. Telling people what they want to hear because in order to peserve harmony is a habit that must be changed in order for captalism to function well. Likewise the cronyism that to an extent still prevades the business scene here. |
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JeJuJitsu
Joined: 11 Sep 2005
Location: McDonald's
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| Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 2:06 am Post subject: |
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Wow, just caught a rerun of this show. Never even heard of this 501 death collapse before. It's crazy that the building started cracking with loud booms and vibrations before 10AM, and they wouldn't evacuate the shoppers, even though the building didn't collapse until 5PM. Heaven forbid they suffer a hit at the cash register...
...the guy only served 3 years in prison? ouch... |
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 3:02 am Post subject: |
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They reshow it often enough it will be on again I'm sure.
I remember seeing it a few times when I had Discovery Channel.
One of my students at a hagwon I worked at was a baby when it happened and his mother happened to be out in the parking lot when the building collapsed. I'm sure that's a close call she'll never forget.
I also have to wonder if even 10 years is enough time for killing 500 people. Not sure how much time he spent in prison. |
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