Sungnyemun (Namdaemun) gate, Korea’s National Treasure #1, caught fire this evening around 8:45 p.m. according to breaking news reports on Naver.com. Reportedly it’s still smoldering. I hope the Marmot knows how to insert photos because there are some dramatic ones on the wires now, and tomorrow I am sure there will be something to photograph.
Sungnyemun used to be off-limits to the public, being out in the middle of a traffic rotary. Then-Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak restored pedestrians’ walk-up access to the gate in 2004, which seemed like a fine improvement. But now that the oldest wooden structure in Seoul has caught fire, if it turns out to have been linked to vandalism (I blame Japan!) maybe this is due for a re-think.
There are lots of electric lights on the thing, though, and it could just as well be an electrical fire. But if you ask me, if the public can walk up to National Treasure #1, it ought to be manned by a guard 24-7.
UPDATE (by Robert Koehler): The Chosun Ilbo reports the wooden pavilion — the oldest wooden structure in Seoul — has begun to collapse. This is an absolute disaster.
UPDATE 2 (by Robert Koehler): The gate’s wooden pavilion has totally collapsed.
Check out these photos at Flickr, too.
NoCutNews reports that the gate’s alarm system went off at 8:47pm, indicating someone entered the structure before the fire. This, along with a witness claiming to have seen someone exit the gate just prior to the fire, raises the possibility that this was a case of arson.
UPDATE 3 (by Robert Koehler): From Yonhap:
Makes you sick, doesn’t it?
Police say it’s not yet clear whether the fire was caused by arson. The Cultural Heritage Administration, meanwhile, said it will take some two or three years to restore the gate. The last time the gate underwent a major restoration was 1961-1963, when it was taken apart and put back together again to repair damage sustained during the Korean War.
UPDATE 4 (by Robert Koehler): Fire fighters now say (via Yonhap) that the first men on the scene saw two plastic lighters at the spot where they believe the fire began.
{ 72 comments… read them below or add one }
inital reports are deliberate arson hmmm let me foresee headlines coming in the next day or two
“police say suspect only described by family name of Kim has history of mental problems, was out of work and complained to his family about having no money and job because of the FTA with the United States”
Initial reports from YTN cite witnesses that saw someone suspicious. Tomorrow will tell more.
The fire was probably caused by deranged arson or from an electrical wiring mishap — but given the season, right now I wouldn’t rule out some homeless person(s) finding refuge in the structure and accidentally setting the whole structure on fire while trying to maintain a small flame to keep warm. I saw this happen to an unprotected landmark in Anaheim, California a dozen years ago.
Agreeing with Brendan’s 20/20 hindsight, if the wooden structure was really that old, rather than a post Korean War reconstruction, there really should have been some kind of round-the-clock surveillance.
Looks like they have a suspect.
This is a fucking tragedy. An absolute disaster.
Perhaps they won’t have to change that “sparkling Korea” slogan.
Holy Christ, it’s collapsing.
A real pity.
A real pity, I agree. I would have liked my half-Korean daughter to have gotten the chance to visit it, it’s a part of her heritage.
But I confess, I’m very curious in a scientific sense about the spread of the fire. Did anyone else notice that it seemed to be contained at 12, but less than an hour later the roof flared up and began to collapse?
#8, Agreed, I it didn’t look too bad an hour ago.
From the video pictures then and those I’m seeing now, it seems they mightn’t have been getting water on the actual fire inside the building.
maybe it was a terrorist attack
The reports say the firefighters couldn’t reach the fire inside the woodwork due to fear of collapse.
I felt sad to see images of Sungnyemun in flames and even sadder to hear of its possible collapse. However, Sungnyemoon did get periodic facelifts over the years, so “the oldest wooden structure in Seoul” was not truly original. Sungnyemoon can be restored to its original beauty for all to appreciate once again.
If they didn’t fight the fire inside in fear of it collapsing, it’s eventual collapse some four hours later is surely because they didn’t fight the fire when they had the chance.
There goes another chunk. National Pile of Ashes No. 1 by the morning. Sad. Very sad.
Boy, that IS bad…Looks to me like there was a bit of a casual attitude earlier:
Hope this link works:
http://dory.mncast.com/partner_player/donga/donga/dongaPlayer.swf?movieID=10031671220080210233441&skinNum=1
Absolute tragedy… I really hope Sonagi’s right on restoration.
And yet it looks like some people are already making jackass comments on it (First comment, no less). Nice to know how some people function.
Yonhap reports that Namdaemun has now “completely collapsed”. This is surreal…
And I expect a lot of the ‘I told ya so’ type of responses from the anti-Lee MB newspapers such as OhMyNews and Hangyeorae. Ugh.
I guess now Samsung E&C has an excuse to build a skyscraper there. “Happy Tears” indeed.
It’s too bad this has happened, but as Sonagi said, there may not be many 400 year old parts of it left anyway. Here’s a photo of it during the war:
http://img222.imageshack.us/my.php?image=namdaemundestructiontb3.jpg
Sungnyemun is not worth the lives of the brave firefighters who tried to save it.
Someone has some photos up at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pwalks/2254954529/in/set-72157603882436188/
I hope they’ll consider rebuilding it again, instead of putting a building there or some new age piece of art.
It will be rebuilt, it’s a national treasure for pete’s sake. It’s just sad that Koreans have to usually rebuilt anything that’s old.
What do you mean?
Either guard National Treasure #1 as if it were National Treasure #1 or install a sprinkler system. That or do something about the homeless.
Hey, it’s cold!
And I don’t mean one of those dudes with the faux beards and the amusement park plastic weaponry.
I got the impression that the firefighters did not know what they were doing, or that someone who was not a firefighter was giving the orders. I think this was an example of what happens when you try to pussyfoot around with a fire.
I know very little about firefighting, but my dad was a firefighter, and I think you usually have to put some holes in a structure if you want to get to the fire. For example, I saw them putting water on the roof of the structure, but that does little good unless there is holes in the roof. Otherwise, it will just run off like rainwater. I have a feeling that someone was telling them not to put holes in the structure.
Also, the video above shows firefighters walking around inside the structure while it was still standing, but I did not see them carrying any hoses, which suggests they screwed up.
Yes, this is Monday-morning quarterbacking, but I was just getting so mad last night watching it on TV. Something is wrong when forty fire trucks cannot put out a fire that size.
A tragedy. Too bad no safeguards were put in place (remember Hwasong Fortress?):
http://msn-list.te.verweg.com/2006-May/005104.html
#18, is this picture, taken by my brother in 1966, the South Gate in Seoul? I have been trying to figure out where this is?
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1220/1160876711_c5a1c3db37_b.jpg
Time for a paranoid thought.
It was brought to my attention by a Korean collegue this morning that a fire like this will be seen by at least some older Koreans, and younger ones who only pretend not to believe the old ways, will see this as a statement on the incoming Lee Myung-bak administration (the whole “mandate of heaven” thing).
If that is the case, then it suggests a possible motive for for the previously mentioned nut job arsonist.
Gillian, that’s a hell of a picture. It sure looks like it.
Your brother’s photo is a historical treasure, Gillian, but I don’t think it’s Namdaemun as it was fully restored in the early 1960s. It is probably one of the lost gates.
I note that during the Choson Dynasty, the king would have those responsible for failing to prevent the fire (in Seoul) executed.
Nowadays, everybody gets off. I still remember the club owner in Inchon that illegally ran a nightclub after bribing the police and when a fire started, his people kept the underage drinkers there from leaving without paying first. Fifty-one under drinking age kids died and the owner got six years in jail. He is out, right now, so the guy that did this will only get a fine probably.
Gillian, I don’t know where that photo was taken – not Seoul. You just made me realize that the photo I linked to above (comment 18) is not Namdaemun. Compare it with this photo, which is most certainly Namdaemun:
http://bp3.blogger.com/_lxap4y0S1as/R69bU2JD9RI/AAAAAAAABjs/oWZfZ6yanvc/s1600-h/Namdaemun+1953+a.jpg
Perhaps it’s from a provincial town like Jeonju?
A real tragedy. When the building was put through restoration in the 60s, they disassembled all the wooden structures (yes, considerable proportion of them being 400 years old) and assembled them again with a combination of new materials. So to my knowledge, a lot of the burnt out wood or should I now say CHARCOAL is indeed very very old.
Shit man, we aint gonna be able to take that classic picture of Seoul again in any near future.
I hope Robert has plenty of photos on it because no matter how well they restore the damn building, Sungnyemun is now HISTORY!!!
“This is a fucking tragedy. An absolute disaster.”
dont put your jeju fishing woman’s costume on and go overboard just yet, it was probably made from japanese wood like the former gwangwhamun. like sonagi says, you cna hardly count these scale models as “oldest” structures.
what we should be thinking about as where we would like to build the next one. I think it would look much better 20 meters to the south, which would allow for more traffic.
It was most certianly a reconstruction and will be rebuilt again.
However, it’s time for Korea to start looking into the problem of crazy, usually drunk arsonists who want to torch sh*t and usually hurt people in the process:
-Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon (I think it got torched twice)
-Changdukung Palace in Seoul (recieved only minor damage, though)
-Daegu subway fire (this was the worst)
-Now, Namdaemun
Really, it’s always men who are crazy/angry/drunk or all 3 and hate the world. They want to take their revenge by torching important things.
Yes, this kind of “I hate the world, so I want to destroy something or hurt somebody” happens in other countries. In my home country, it usually involves a shooting rampage. However, I’ve been living in Korea for a long time and it’s high time they look into the problem of mental health and anger issues here.
*Yes, this is assuming that the fire was caused by arson. It seems that is the likely cause for now.
It’s just a matter of time before the politicians start batting this one around:
http://photo.media.daum.net/gallery/society/200802/11/yonhap/v19910361.html
the year of the rat roles in with a new president, and then the symbol of Korea goes up in flames. indeed many people will read into this like crazy, but i think rational koreans of the younger generation will put a positive spin on it. the “gate” burned down and now it’s time to let in real changes to Korea’s culture. Ever notice that Koreans love to complain about their culture almost as much as they aggrandize it?
it is a tragedy, and i had some reminiscent 9/11 feelings creeping up on me. anyways it will be rebuilt and probably with a new spin. in the meantime, Korea will have to get more paranoid like us in the west which is a shame. my father, when he visited, was really struck by the lack of security and safety measures at the chungaechon. if that had been built in canada just think of the graffiti, and overabundance of railings and wheel chair ramps there would be.
As of today, the entire top layer is destroyed but the first story seems to be basically okay since the clay within the roof smothered the flames — as it was designed to do.
Incidentally, it is doubtful how much of the wooden structure was original. The original building miraculously survived the Japanese invasion during the Imjin War. During the 20th century Japanese occupation, there was no maintenance as was common as the apparent Japanese policy was to allow national landmarks that were not bulldozed to be allowed to deteriorate as part of Japan’s overall plan to integrate Korea into Japan proper.
During the Korean War, once again the gate miraculously was spared a direct hit by bombs, but it was seriously damaged by tremors from near-by exploding bombs.
During the 1950′s, Korea was too poor to spend money on landmarks restoration, but in 1962, the first serious renovation was done. At that time, the original silk calligraphy was found on the top beam that described the raising of that beam and the ceremony feast that took place at that time. During the renovation, unfortunately, cheap substitutes were used to replace the rotten, missing and broken bits of the original structure. Given the shoddy restoration, a second restoration was done in the early 1970′s. In both restorations, the wooden building was essentially disassembled and reassembled using repaired and replaced parts. So, it is hard to say how much of the original structure was destroyed during last night’s fire. Most likely, much or even most of the damage was done to wood that dates back to 1962 or later.
In any case, there is going to be a lot of finger pointing as to the lack of a sprinkler system or round-the-clock surveillance of a structure that is designated as National Treasure No. 1.
It is a sorry shame this time — and it is an unrecognized scandal that virtually none of Korea’s wooden architectural treasures have any kind of sophisticated fire prevention system other than a few fire extinguishers of doubtful capacity to handle a real emergency.
Until the authorities take this kind of problem more seriously, it is only a matter of time until another National Treasure goes up in flames.
What a tragedy to begin Moo-Ja nyun with. Could you pls put your beautiful shot of Namdaemoon back to main theme again, Robert?
My wife told me about this over breakfast. It seems that the best method to fight the fire was to make holes in the roof and pour water into it since the roof itself is waterproofed. But according to the live news feed last night, the Cultural Heritage Administration didn’t want the firefighters to “damage” the Namdamemun, which is the reason why they just kept pumping water onto it to no avail. Around 12:00 am, the CHA “agreed” to let the firefighters to make holes in the roof, of course, by that time, it was too late to save it.
But let’s look at the bright side, as some commentators have already mentioned, the government will rebuild it in the near future. I mean they are taking apart the Gwanghwamun and rebuilding it to its original historic location. So, look foward to the government unveiling plans to rebuild the Namdaemun in the next few months or so.
Here is how the Japanese do it:
http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/woonmoon21/1092493.html
The charred remains of National Treasure No. 1 are right across the street from our office. Anyone who wants to get a really heartbreaking overhead view, give me a call and make an appointment — our conference rooms overlook Sungnyemun.
What’s making me angry about this government’s incompetence is the cordon of police draftees they’ve mobilized to block the entrances, and patrol the perimeter of the rubble pile. Where were those police before? Korea drafts tens of thousands of kids into the military and national police forces, but can’t spare 25 of them (at $50 a month!) to man a 24-hour guard on National Treasure No. 1.
Okay, so if that one isn’t Seoul’s South Gate, is this one? Again, photo taken by my brother in 1966.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1146/1161770306_257d210a4b_b.jpg
Brendon, maybe one day they will realize that they need some real security around these important sites.
However, I can just picture it right now-
Kid cop: “You can’t go in there. It’s off limits.”
Drunk ajosshi: “What do you mean I can’t? I can do whatever I want!” (he proceeds)
cop: (attempts to stop him) “Sir, please go away.”
drunk: “Don’t touch me! How can you try to tell me what to do? I am older than you! Never disrespect me!” (slaps young policeman)
cop: “But, Sir, please! You can’t do this.”
drunk: “Sheebal!” (goes ahead and does whatever he wants to anyway)
That, I believe, is Heunginjimun a.k.a. Dongdaemun:
http://sca.visitseoul.net/korean/relics/i_mountain_fortress09006.htm
A coworker and I were talking about something similar over lunch. Let’s just say for the sake of argument that the government did install fire alarms, sprinklers, and put a police cordon around the Namdaemun, and nothing happened to it. Would the S. Korean media praise the government or criticize it for wasteful spending? My coworker’s position was the latter. Which is ironic considering that the media and some people are now criticizing the government for not taking action.
D@mned if you do, d@mned if you don’t!
I’d say to that “Better safe than sorry”. But that ship has sailed, the cow’s already been stolen… and I can’t think of another saying that relates to too-latedness.
Indeed, Robert, that’s what it is…. Now, I KNOW these are Hwaseong:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1403/1161789422_4d96f815f1_b.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1295/1160970793_367c3a5141_b.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1363/1161818850_ec3db4e7c5_b.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1112/1160960721_9c92bdf60a_b.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1360/1161800606_e2b34101f1_b.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1057/1160943817_682fb73aa2_b.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1358/1161797626_7cb237d93b_b.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1407/1161793066_64334fa330_b.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1403/1161789422_4d96f815f1_b.jpg
But were the heck is this???
forget the question, couldn’t locate the pic….
The city fairly recently started to put two policemen on guard 24/7 at the Yi Sunshin statue in Gwanghwamun. You can see them when you drive by – two kids shivering in the cold. They cited concerns that somebody might use the statue as a backdrop to aggravated forms of protest such as self-immolation. I recall that the press criticized it as a waste of resources.
Personally I couldn’t care less what happens to that statue – Admiral Yi was a great man, but the statue has little historic or cultural value in itself and is more a remnant of the militaristic mindset of the Park Chunghee era than anything. And if some numbnut wants to protest there the police could probably get there quickly enough.
Namdaemun on the other hand is a different matter… It’s just so sad to think that somebody could willfully burn it down. The only consolation in this is that nobody has been hurt or killed.
I have the perfect spot for a small hut which could hold a small contingent of guards — a nice warm enclosed space which would hold three or four watchmen for two or three shifts per day, and a dozen monitors for the security cameras they’d monitor. In the daytime it could be a tourist information booth. How do I know where to put such a thing? That space is currently occupied by a nice large white tent holding politicians and bureaucrats bloviating about how they’re going to fix this.
What is this whole “waste of resources” argument anyway?
Are the police so busy:
-enforcing traffic laws?
-cracking down on domestic violence?
-making sure teachers are beating or fooling around with their students?
-looking after public safety?
I’m not trying to get down on the Koreans right now,
but, really, are the cops so busy doing other things that
they can’t post a couple of patrol guys on the nation’s monuments?
Oops!
-making sure teachers are NOT beating or fooling around withtheir students?
*referring to the cases lately of Korean teachers getting slaps on the wrists or just let free altogoether for beating or molseting students- the school of teachers and administrators who were molesting deaf kids & the teacher who was busted for molesting a student, but allowed to continue teaching.
as long as we’re blaming Japan,
“I blame Japan”, too…
can someone educate me on why the south gate is more important than the East gate,
and what happenned to the North, the West, and the supposed 4 other inbetween gates?
Truly, though, if this structure was hauled off to Japan, it wouldn’t have burned, and that’s what I think.
2MB will take the heat for opening it to the public.
it’s also a bad sign, if you take into account East Asian things. Young or old, it’s not a good sign.
Gillian: That’s not DongDaeMun, it’s HwaSeong PalDalMun.
really sad
but at least i understand what my co-workers were talking about today after lunch
The Korea Times seems to be treating this disaster as an everyday occurrence with the headline: Fire Hurts Pride of Koreans.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/02/117_18706.html
I remember hanging out around then when I worked in Korea. That sucks! I hope they rebuild quickly.
The opening and closing of a new KT editorial:
“It was a night of bitter grief and utmost shame. The day of Feb. 10 will remain long in the minds of Koreans, who had to watch helplessly as their foremost national treasure of 600 years perished in just six hours in the heart of the capital. Whether accidental or intentional, Sunday’s fire on Sungnyemun (Courtesy Reverence Gate) is a human disaster caused by government officials’ incompetence and irresponsibility and the people’s indifference. Few of us are free from blame.”
“Officials say they can completely restore it in five years. But it would just be Sungnyemun’s replica of the 21st century version. It will take another 600 years to revive the historical spirits contained in the original structure, which endured several wars but was felled by peacetime neglect and indifference. Cultural properties are products of a spiritual nature that transcend time.”
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2008/02/137_18700.html
They really need to disable comments on that site. It’s truly a nightmare over there.
“They really need to disable comments on that site. It’s truly a nightmare over there.”
Agreed. It’s people like 1chris with an (123.248.52.235), coming from Australia that’s making things worse. I know he’s just doing parodies of anti-Japanese Koreans but for people who aren’t familiar with that comment section’s personalities… they’ll think it’s really Koreans. Some folks just can’t wait to see Koreans to react irrationally so that they can get their lick in.
“I know he’s just doing parodies of anti-Japanese Koreans but for people who aren’t familiar with that comment section’s personalities… they’ll think it’s really Koreans.”
cm, are you saying that “1chris” is not Korean? I have to disagree. His posts and tone of language seems are spot on indicative of the typical Korean web troll who will use “jap” for any post regardless of the topic. It is ridiculous to think that Korean trolls are incapable of 1chris’ level of boorish and race-bating ugliness because as much as I hate to say it, other than on this blog which demands a degree of civility, that is the norm for most Korean posters. Because the track record for Korean racist trolling on the internet is just so huge and well known, it is not possible to just write off Korean bigotry and idiocy by saying it is a non-Korean who is trying to make Koreans look bad by posing as a Korean.
However, what you are saying in the last part of your post seems to be unfortunately true. The comments section at the Koreatimes seems to be garnering the attention of foreigners who are expressing their disgust at what they are seeing.
In my personal opinion, they should just close the comments section all together.
MSNBC is saying there is a man in custody with a history of arson. Back in 2006 he tried to torch the Changgyeong Palace in Seoul.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23101503/
No word yet on if he had a history of mental illness or has anger issues due to past mistreatment from the Americans or Japanese. I’m sure his public defender lawyer will come out with one of these excuses soon.
Man, that guy is gonna get shanked in prison for sure.
“It is ridiculous to think that Korean trolls are incapable of 1chris’ level of boorish and race-bating ugliness ”
I never said that. 1chris is not real though.
http://news.naver.com/main/hotissue/read.nhn?mid=hot&sid1=102&sid2=249&gid=60061&cid=60062&nt=20080212055945&iid=18007&oid=003&aid=0001957334
Apparently, he was in Ganghwa at the time of the fire. They didn’t have anything on him, anyway, other than he matched witness descriptions (i.e., he was old and male) and with a history of torching national treasures.
Honestly, I wonder if they’ll ever catch the guy.
I was crying when i saw this news because this was a big symbol of Korea. This building was also a memorial from my ancestors, the Yi Dynasty. The fire was said to be caused by a man that walked into the building with a plastic bag in hand.
“MSNBC is saying there is a man in custody with a history of arson. Back in 2006 he tried to torch the Changgyeong Palace in Seoul.”
He just admitted according to MBC radio news, surprisingly witness saying that there were always 2-4 homeless from Seoul Grand Station use Namdeamoon as overnight shelter, moreover there were a ladder used by these people
“CM”, that troll at KT is coming from Korea according that IP address, not Australia. It does sound like parody though.
I’m going to stop by for a look around 2 pm. I’ll call up to see if you’re free. (And the door to the conference room stays open).
yeah after the events have transpired and details emerge comment #1 wasnt that far offbase
cm again graces the comment section of this blog with his hypocrisy. He accuses a certain poster of “poor research” and “distorting facts” and yet he himself delves into the same activities that he accuses others of doing.
Out of curiosity, I checked out some Chinese BBSes to read Chinese netizen reactions to the burning of Sungnyemun. Lots of snickering, snide comments punctuated with 高丽棒子s. How mean and immature do you have to be to laugh at the loss of a cultural relic? Chinese netizens rival their Korean counterparts in meanspiritedness and classlessness.
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