Modern Korea was shaped as much by its disasters as its achievements. The 21st century started with fires and serial killers as disasters went from a macro to a human level. 

• (1999) Sealand Youth Training Centre – 23 killed
• (1999) Inchon bar fire – 65 killed
• (2003) Daegu subway fire – 192 killed
• (2003-2004) Yu Yeong-cheol – 20 killed
• (2008) Fire in refrigeration distribution warehouse under construction – 40/57 killed
• (2008) Namdaemun fire
• (2008) Nonhyeon-dong massacre – 6 killed
• (2014) Sewol Ferry – 304 killed
• (2016) Gangnam bathroom murder
• (2017) Jecheon fire – electrical fire in a gym “Noble Fitness and Spa” – 29 killed

Part of the Korean Disasters Series:

Disasters that Shaped Modern Korea (1950s-70s)

Disasters that Shaped Modern Korea (1980s)

“The Disaster Republic”: Disasters that Shaped Modern Korea (1990s)

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NOTES

We’re not going to cover them all.

(June 30, 1999) Sealand Youth Training Centre – 23 killed

• Background
  • Hwaseong
  • Steel-framed, reinforced concrete
  • Additional space – stacked cargo containers covered with wood and corrugated iron with flammable styrofoam ceilings
  • No fire safety measures
    • No sprinkler system
    • Most extinguishers not working
    • No fire alarm
    • Bad exits
      • Two with narrow stairways
    • BUT–had passed fire safety inspections twice
• Disaster
  • Lit mosquito coil shortly after midnight
  • Late responders – 12:30 a.m. fire / 1:30 a.m. alarm at fire station / arrived 2:00 a.m.
  • Took 50 hours to get under control
  • 19 children, 4 adults died
    • 18 children from Somang Kindergarten
      • Most sleeping in room 301
    • Took two weeks to identify all the bodies
• Aftermath
  • Sealand Park owner and six Hawseong officials charged with involuntary manslaughter & violation of building laws PLUS bribery charges
    • Also borrowed a construction designer’s construction license
    • Four architects and builders were also arrested
  • Somang Kindergarten officials arrested
    • Were off drinking rather than watching their children
  • Outcry – Greater enforcement of safety standards

(Oct 30, 1999) Incheon bar fire – 65 killed

• • Background
    • 3rd worst fire in modern history
    • 3-story wood and brick building
    • Restaurant on first floor
    • Illegal hof on second floor (Live 2 Hof House)
    • Eight days prior – police had ordered it shut down
      • No license
      • Spot check – thought it was closed
        • Likely tipped off
        • “Every time the police had a surprise inspection, the owner kicked the children out and shut down the bar,” Ko Kyung Mi said. “But I am sure that the police knew about the situation.”
    • Many under aged (97 of 129 known victims)
      • Youngest killed was 13
      • High school students coming from a high school festival
        • Many still had on their uniforms
  • Disaster
    • Cause – Basement noraebang
      • Undergoing renovation
      • Two teenage part-time students playing with fire
        • Extinguished in the room, but inter-wall materials spread the fire throughout the building
    • Door locked from outside
      • Overheard owner told staff to lock the doors and not let anyone out until they paid for their drinks
        • Then left
        • Similarities to Sampoong?
      •  
      • More than 100 trapped inside
    • Most deaths from smoke inhalation on 2nd floor beer hall and 3rd floor billiard room (NBA Billiards)
    • Poor fire codes
      • Windows couldn’t open and were almost indestructible 
        • 3rd floor was able to break the windows
      • Narrow corridors and stairs
        • Stairs were a chimney
      • One small exit
      • No sprinklers
        • Removed during renovation
    • Fire extinguishers, but happened so fast that people couldn’t use them
  • Aftermath
    • Worst fire since the ‘70s
      • Building owner jumped from the 3rd floor and survived with injuries
    • Pub owner and four workers arrested
      • Owner tried to run away but turned himself in
        • Five years in prison
        • Went into ministry and tried to become a Christian singer
    • Busted in March for violation of codes but bribed officials (arrested)
    • “There was no place to play”
      • Prevalence of adult-friendly entertainment districts and no place for teens to go
      • Commercial district (Inhyeon-dong) collapsed
    • Memorial – Incheon Student Education and Culture Center (near site)

(Feb 18, 2003) Daegu subway fire – 192 killed

• Arsonist set fire to a train
  • Fire spread across two trains within minutes
• Largest peacetime deliberate human disaster
• Kim Dae-han
  • 56-year-old unemployed taxi driver
  • (2001) Had a stroke and wasn’t satisfied with medical treatment
  • Wanted to kill himself and take others with him
• Disaster
  • Was opening cartons and fumbling with a lighter
    • Passengers tried to stop him
    • Spilled one of the cartons, which caught fire
    • Kim escaped with injuries
  • Insulation made fire spread, along with vinyl and plastic on seat cushions and strap handles
  • Train operator didn’t notify officials of fire
  • Another train entered the station and stopped
    • Automatic fire detector SHUT DOWN THE POWER, trapping the train
    • Operator told passengers to REMAIN SEATED
    • Was told by officials to kill the engine and leave
    • Took the master key and escaped, but in doing so kept the doors shut
  • Unprepared
    • No fire extinguishers
    • No sprinklers or emergency lighting
    • Poor emergency ventilation systems 
  • Late responders
    • Because smoked prevented them from entering for 3.5 hours
• Aftermath
  • Attempted cover-up
    • Escaped operator couldn’t be found for 10 hours
    • Transcript omissions
  • Better fire safety equipment in subway stations
    • Interiors sprayed with fire-resistant chemicals
    • Six Daegu stations refurbished
    • This is why there are instruction with a cartoon man with a defined butt crack showing how to open subway doors
  • Operators of both trains charged with negligence
    • Sentenced 4-5 years in prison
  • Kim Dae-han convicted of arson and homicide
    • Sentenced to life (though prosecutors pushed for death)
    • Died in 2004
  • (2008) Daegu Safety Theme Park opened

(2003-2004) Yu Yeong-cheol – 20 killed

• One of the better known murderers
• Father was a Vietnam War vet
  • Alcoholic
  • Gambler
  • Left family*
• Yoo was violent when young, but athletic 
• Artistic, wanted to be an artist
• Dropped out of school
• Aug.23, 1988 committed first known crime – theft
  • Exempt from military service
• 1991, got married, had a son
• Throughout 90s, committed 14 counts of theft and rape, total 7 years in prison
• March, 2000, sentenced 3.5 years in prison for raping a teenage girl (sent to Jeonju Prison)
• Wife filed for divorce
• September, 2003, released from prison
  • Lived with mother in Seoul
  • Became fascinated with murder
  • Killed a dog to experiment
    • Stabbed the dog
    • Was put off by the blood, dog’s hollering, and squirming
    • Decided it was best to hit victims in the head first
• Later that month, first murder
• Most victims were bludgeoned (usually with a hammer or similar tool) then stabbed
  • He started killing wealthy elderly (men and women), often in their homes, before moving on to raping and murdering women (often masseuses/prostitutes, usually in their 20s)
  • Victims were bludgeoned or raped or both before being murdered; several were dismembered and cannibalised 
  • Victims ranged between early 20s and mid-80s 
• July 2004, captured
  • Convicted of 20 murders
  • Rape was later added to convictions
• December 2004, sentenced to death
  • June 2005, death sentence was lowered to life by Supreme Court
• Currently in Seoul Detention Centre
• 2010, reestablishing the death penalty was reviewed by Minister of Justice
  • Violent serial killers were the key focus; Yoo was the key example for ministry’s review
  • Review was abandoned

(Jan 7, 2008) Fire in refrigeration distribution warehouse under construction – 40/57 killed

• Cause – Sparks from welding landed on chemicals
• Safety issues
  • Fire dept issued safety inspection certificate WITHOUT INSPECTING
  • Workers not given safety training
  • Bballi Bballi pressure to finish
  • Fire suppression wasn’t operational–locked down
• Aftermath
  • Building owners sentenced 20 million won
    • Avoided prison

(Feb 10, 2008) Namdaemun fire

• Chae Jong-gi (69 years old)
  • Upset he hadn’t been paid in full for land sold to developers
  • (2006) Had also tried to set Changgyeonggung on fire
• Namdaemun targeted because
  • Lax security
  • Didn’t want to cause casualties (so no trains or buses–thanks, dude)
• Aftermath
  • Now has fire suppression systems and CCTVs
  • Other sites got the same treatment

(Oct 20, 2008) Nonhyeon-dong massacre – 6 killed

• Goshiwon 3rd floor, Jeong Sang-jin (30) set his room on fire and slashed several women with a sushi knife while wearing all black and a headlamp and goggles
  • One woman died when she jumped out of a window
  • Jeong was thought to be a victim and was rescued from a storage room, where he was hiding
• Jeong Sang-jin
  • Financial hardships
  • Was picked on his whole life
  • Skipped reservist training
  • Wanted to target the rich and high authorities, but went for who was convenient
• Aftermath
  • Sentenced to death

(July 6, 2013) Asiana Airlines Flight 214 – 3 killed

• Bumped the runway while landing at SFO
• Cause – Pilot error
  • Official: Over-reliance on automation and lack of understanding of systems operation
  • Unofficial: Miscommunication – Other crew members who saw an error didn’t object because of hierarchy 

(April 16, 2014) Sewol Ferry – 304 killed

• Incident
  • Capsized while third mate and helmsman made too sharp a turn
    • Captain Lee Joon-seok and crew were drinking beer
  • Ordered passengers to stay put
    • Those who disobeyed survived
    • Captain and crew abandoned ship
    • Three crew members stayed on to help and died
  • Rescue operations delayed and botched
• Causes
  • Sudden turn
    • Off-duty captain complained about steering problems
  • Overloading and improperly secured cargo
    • Off-duty captain and first mate warned about it
    • Owners brushed it off
    • Not carrying enough ballast water
    • Miscommunication between agencies about what the maximums should be
  • Addition of extra passenger cabins (similar to Sampoong’s extra floor)
  • Cozy relationship between agencies and shipping business
• Aftermath
  • Media was an embarrassment
  • Perpetrators 
    • Former owner Yoo Byung-eun fled
      • Nationwide manhunt
      • Body was found in a field
    • Captain and two other crew indicted with homicide
      • Captain – 36 years
        • Judgement: Negligence but not intent to kill
      • Chief Engineer – Murder – 30 years
      • 11 other crew members indicted on lesser charges
    • Chonghaejin CEO Kim Han-sik – 10 years
      • Six other employees and a Korean Shipping Association officials received sentences
  •  Led to downfall of Park Geun-hye
    • Negligence
    • Caring more about the optics
    • Made blacklist of artists who portrayed Sewol in their artwork
      • Members of administration were imprisoned for four years for this
  • Lax regulations under spotlight

(May 17, 2016) Gangnam bathroom murder 

• 
• Kim Sung-min stabbed a woman to death
• Reason – Hated women
  • Also mental illness – schizophrenia
• Korea’s #MeToo movement
  • The uber-culture
    • Men feeling more and more displaced as their dominance is challenged as Korea modernizes
    • Men who aren’t as powerful lash out

(Dec 21, 2017) Jecheon fire – electrical fire in a gym “Noble Fitness and Spa” – 29 killed

• Incident
  • Smoke inhalation main culprit
    • Rapid spread
    • New paint and decorations from remodeling
  • 20 trapped in sauna
  • ~20 rescued from roof of eight-story building
  • Owner didn’t abandon this time
    • Tried to put out fire with extinguisher
    • But didn’t enter sauna because–naked women
  • Fire truck delayed
    • Illegally parked cars blocking way
    • Private truck from a cleaning company with ladder started rescue
    • Elderly man rescued 15 people before being taken to hospital
• Cause
  • Installation of electric heating wires on first floor ceiling of the parking lot
• To make things worse
  • Emergency exit was being used as a warehouse–blocked door
  • Power outage
  • Automatic door at entrance was broken – People didn’t know how to open it
  • No staff to help evacuate
  • Alarm not installed
  • Sprinkler system didn’t work
  • Elevators acted as chimneys
• Aftermath
  • Fire department and local government accused of ineptitude by public
  • Fire preparedness was improved for public facilities after Daegu subway fire, but not private facilities

(Jan 26, 2018) Miryang hospital fire – 41 killed

• Sejong Hospital
• Cause – Still unknown
  • Started in Emergency Room, maybe the ceiling
    • Likely wires above ceiling in the bathroom
• Incident
  • Many intensive care patients were tied to their beds
  • Sprinklers not installed (not required)
• Aftermath
  • Bills stuck in parliament to fix this

Conclusion

What have been the patterns?

• 빨리 빨리
• Disassociation of cause & effect
  • Bad at strategic thinking, good at tactical thinking
    • Stubborn refusal to anticipate disaster
    • Quick to fix disasters after they happen
• Angry older men commit arson
• Slow response of responders
• Miscommunication
• People being told to remain where they are–to follow authority
• People in charge fled the scene (captains, subway operators, pub and building owners)
• Greed & corruption
  • Paternal view of the masses
  • Regulators in bed with industry – bribes

What has changed?

• Air and building safety
• Things don’t change until there’s public outcry
  • Driving/drunk driving rules
• More of a safety mindset/conscientiousness
  • Expanding of one’s bubble to go beyond tribalism (immediate family) to community mindset
  • Driving has gotten better
• Some fluidity in Confucian hierarchy
  • Air crews are required to speak up if the captain is wrong
• Consciousness of social disasters (serial killers, sex crimes, child abuse)
• Those who are responsible are being punished
• Less corruption
  • Maybe because it’s a richer society. Gov’t officials don’t need to be bribed to stay afloat
    • This had been going on ever since the Joseon era when kings kept expanding the numbers of Merit Subjects

What directions are we heading?

• More consciousness of social disasters
  • Moving from structural to personal — human level
• More responsibility being taken by those with responsibility
• May see more helicopter parenting regarding safety
  • Note how Korean children have more freedom of movement than their western counterparts these days
    • America went through the child abduction scares of the ‘80s and ‘90s, causing paranoid parenting
    • Korea may be about to go through that
• The looming iceberg: Mental Illness
  • Ignoring of mental illness and making it shameful
  • Social pressures amplifying them