This is being reported on CNN… Can’t find details, not even an exact location… Anybody know anything? Hand of the Lord…?
Anyway, RIP for the victims, tentatively said to be fishermen and their children…
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22 Comments
Finally, a credible Korean-wave report.
The death toll is up to 9. It happened on a beach in Boryeong, Chungcheongnam-do. It’s all over Korean and Western sources.
“Hand of the Lord or another anti-Korean plot…?”
“Finally, a credible Korean-wave report.”
Seven people die tragically, including a 5-year-old and a 9-year-old, and this is what people come up with.
Class acts you are.
They were out fishing and sightseeing. Too many Koreans ignore danger signs posted everywhere about giant waves. They go in anyway.
Thank you for blessing us with your wisdom cm.
A score of people die likely an entire family by the sound of it… somewhere the extended family is in anguish. This type of event requires taste. OP, #1, #4, use your heart, please…
Was it a mini tsunami? I would like to see a photo or something of this wave..
You know you’ve been in Korea too long when the first thing that pops up after a tragedy like this is a Hanryu joke.
Rogue waves are not tsunamis, in fact they haven’t been well explained, but they exist and can be as high as 100 ft. A few years ago people in Monterrey died when hit by a rogue wave.
Msn says it happened at a west coast, and the death toll could rise up to 15 now. Donga states that it was near Boryung, and that people dead are mostly from one family on a vacation for Children’s Day vacation period. Damn…
I feel for the families of the people involved but the videos show the situation cm (#4) described. People were beyond the security fence when the wave came.
With all due respect to the deceased… I doubt there was “Giant Wave”. Until I see photo or some patchy footage from a phone camera.
Drowning is among the highest cause of deaths for Koreans under 20, most can’t swim. When a ‘large’ wave rolls in and too many people or fisherman get caught up they will drown. Certainly no natural disaster.
Another thing to note is, when something goes wrong in Korea usually death tolls are a lot higher than in western countries… maybe due to the higher population density or lack of awareness, safety standards etc.
Koreans are not used to seeing large waves, if this happened in Australia I doubt it would be described as ‘giant’, just a bigger wave in a set a rolled in.
A simple natural tragedy, looks like now. RIP to them and comfort to theirs…
OP modified — I took the “?” off and changed the number, and deleted the “or another anti-Korean plot?” phrase. It was late at night and my capacities were diminished; I just saw it on the crawl on CNN and rushed to computer, couldn’t find anything concrete yet — then a bit later decided to post here. Did not intend to be snarky or disrespecting the victims — just didn’t know WHAT was going on, “giant killer wave at midnight” report seemed bizarre to me, confusing; was wondering if it was false or a rumor or a earthquake-tsunami or the result of something human-caused outside of Korea… Now all seems clear, and I join the grieving for just another safety-negligent natural-disaster tragedy.
Was this at the same beach that hosts the “Boryeong Mud Festival” every summer? I enjoyed good fun at that event one July…
Still fewer victims than in 1997 when a flash flood hit what I think was Chiak Mountain. I believe the death toll was 80 people. The victims had ignored the warning signs and camped along the rivers…during the rain season nonetheless. A couple of Korean (and American I think) soldiers died trying to rescue the people who were stranded.
#12: Although you’re probably right about swimming abilities in Korea; most Westerners get swimming lessons as part of their basic elementary school education (while Koreans get Taekwondo), please check out Wikipedia for “Rogue wave” and “Rip current” which were undoubtable factors in this tragedy.
Being from Nova Scotia, I was always taught to respect how dangerous the ocean can be. A sign on the Peggys Cove Lighthouse carries the following message in bold letters: “Warning / Injury and death have rewarded careless sight-seers here / The ocean and rocks are treacherous / Savour the sea from a distance.”
Despite this warning, many people have died at Peggys Cove. Tourists, mostly, who thought it was a calm enough day to get closer to the water and were carried out to sea by a rogue wave, never to be seen again…
The ocean is unpredictable and is no discriminator of age or race.
This is truly a sad story. I hope the families can find peace. Signs or no signs, Koreans will perish from their cultural denial of danger.
It made today’s newspapers — I now see that it happened at 12:41 pm yesterday (Sunday) afternoon — jeez, shoulda checked Yonhap before I posted, was too hasty…
Lack of safety-consciousness is always an issue here — but then people always ridicule what is seen as the over-protectiveness of Western governments and legal systems — say that we have too many lawsuits over safety and negligence issues, too many silly seeming warnings on labels — where is the happy medium…?
Does anybody think that the Korean government should forbid all people from being on the West Coast breakwaters at all times, because of the small chance of a rare monster wave coming in…? I wouldn’t advocate that.
But more swimming lessons, including in natural moving waters, for all Koreans would be a good thing, it seems.
@sanshinseon
Golden mean wouldn’t be golden if it was so easy to achieve it
The best way for both ends would be to recognize the problem and fix it… like increasing safety awareness in Korea and decreasing frivolous lawsuits in Western worlds. Of course, way easier said than done.
Terrible accident. It amazed me to see the footage of the tsunami in Thailand - it really did not look like much coming in at all until it was too late.
I if it was the same sort of thing that happened here. By the time they realized the severity, there was very little that they could do about it.
Sad stuff.
Why are Korean language papers (at least the English press releases) calling this a “giant natural wave?”
Does this have anything to do with the fact that the de facto English name for “giant natural wave” is actually a Japanese word? You know, “Tsunami.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami#Terminology