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On June 29, 1995, the Sampoong Department Store (Korean: 삼풍백화점; Hanja: 三豐百貨店) in Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea, collapsed due to a structural failure.

The collapse killed 502 people and injured 937, making it the largest peacetime disaster in South Korean history. It was the deadliest non-deliberate modern building collapse until the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh. Construction on the store began in 1987 and was completed in 1990. During construction, the chairman of Sampoong Group's construction division, Lee Joon, wanted changes to the concrete support columns that introduced structural concerns. When the company's general contractor resisted these changes, Lee ultimately fired them and used his own in-house construction company to complete the building. Investigators blamed the collapse primarily on this and other unsafe modifications made during the building's construction and lifespan. On December 27, 1995, Lee Joon was convicted of criminal negligence and sentenced to 10 years and 6 months imprisonment. His sentence was later lessened to 7 years and 6 months on appeal. His son, Lee Han-sang, was convicted of corruption and accidental homicide and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment.

The Sampoong Group began construction of the Sampoong Department Store in 1987 over a tract of land in the Seocho District previously used as a landfill. During construction, however, the blueprints were changed by the future chairman of Sampoong Group's construction division, Lee Joon, to instead create a large mall department store. The building was completed in late 1989, and the department store opened to the public on July 7, 1990, attracting an estimated 40,000 people per day during its five years of existence. The units were moved over column 5E, where the most visible cracks in the fifth floor were seen before the collapse.

Never the less, Lee Joon and the executives left the building safely before the collapse occurred. At about 5:00 p.m., KST (UTC+9:00), as the fifth floor ceiling began to sink, store workers finally closed off all customer access to the fifth floor. Fifty-seven minutes before the collapse, the store was packed with hundreds of shoppers, but still, Lee Joon did not close the store or attempt any repairs.

Seoul's mayor, Choi Pyong-yol, later announced the rescue would be called off due to concerns that the unstable remains of the store would collapse. The last to be rescued, 19-year-old store clerk Park Seung-hyun (Korean: 박승현; Hanja: 朴勝賢), was pulled from the wreckage 17 days after the collapse with a few scratches; 18-year-old Yoo Ji-hwan was pulled out after nearly twelve days; and a man rescued after nine days reported that other trapped survivors had drowned from the rain and from the water used for fire suppression.

On the day of the collapse, although the units were shut off, it was too late: the structure had suffered irreversible damage, and the fifth floor slab around column 5E finally gave way.

During his interrogation with Professor Chung, Lee Joon sparked further controversy by saying that his main concern was that the collapse of the store not only harmed the customers, but also inflicted great financial damage to his company. City official Lee Chung-Woo, who was a chief administrator of the area where the store was located, was sentenced to three years in jail for bribery.

Two months after the collapse, Lee Joon and Lee Han-sang submitted a jointly signed memo to Seoul, offering their entire wealth to compensate the families of the victims.

The remains of the store were demolished shortly after the collapse and the recovery operations; the site remained vacant until 2000.

Blueprint for Disaster – "The Sampoong Collapse" (2004) Seconds from Disaster – "Sampoong Department Store Collapse" (2006)

"Inspection of collapse cause of Sampoong Department Store". "30 Years after the Sampoong Department Store Collapse: Development of South Korean Building Sector". The Korea Times: The Dawn of Modern Korea - Collapse of Sampoong Department Store (Archive)

Quick Facts

• "30 Years after the Sampoong Department Store Collapse: Development of South Korean Building Sector".
• The Sampoong Group began construction of the Sampoong Department Store in 1987 over a tract of land in the Seocho District previously used as a landfill.
• The Korea Times: The Dawn of Modern Korea - Collapse of Sampoong Department Store (Archive)
• During construction, the chairman of Sampoong Group's construction division, Lee Joon, wanted changes to the concrete support columns that introduced structural concerns.
• Seconds from Disaster – "Sampoong Department Store Collapse" (2006)

Source material: Wikipedia - "Sampoong Department Store collapse". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.