Korea’s Death Mall - 502 Dead & 40 Missing Inside High End Department Store
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- Опубликовано: 7 окт 2023
- Full Show Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com
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straight up if u have a kid and they start pointing at someone who is invisible, bleeding, and telling them to leave; you leave. u take the kid and run.
Right?! I would assume it was haunted
I sure would. I saw people no one else could when I was little. I'd believe them.
"I see soon-to-be dead people"
"Ok.Time to go, Honey"
o.o;
I think these bleeding ghost people were maybe somehow spirits taking the forms of those who would die trying to prevent what would happen
fr.
I always hate that the rescuers get ptsd and have intense guilt and these powerful people who are responsible for the disaster act so indifferent. UNBELIEVABLE
The reason those powerful people are so indifferent is because no one they care about is in the tragedy.
Reminds of 9/11 , the rescue dogs would get so depressed by not finding people alive that the rescue workers would have to hide so the dogs could actually “find” people 😭
@@Suburban-Trevor what
Because those rich people got into that position by only acting in their self interest, while rescuers takes on those jobs because they, presumably, want to help people.
@@Suburban-TrevorDid you respond to the wrong person or….?
What you said about the rescuers morale reminded me of how the rescue dogs used after 9/11 got so depressed because they were finding so many dead bodies and almost no survivors that some of the first responders started pretending to be bodies in the rubble and letting the dogs find them just to give the dogs a “win”, while surrounded by so much death.
I forgot about that, I like that they helped the dogs but I also feel bad for all the people that died
I remember that. Even the animals felt that day.
Omg that's the saddest ever.
“I think I’m gonna go now”
That broke my heart, I legit started crying
Dude that sunk me
@@mintkitteh Ik 😔
Same. I cried my eyes out and had to pause the video
Same bro
FRR :(
The fact that the owners decided to remove all the expensive stuff from the building but not evacuate just goes to show how little they cared about people's lives
pearl harbor were same way, twin towers....lots of times....
well that’s a bit silly… you can’t sell stuff if everyone’s dead…
@@doagii2649 actually they can sell it elsewhere, the people didnt give them any money but stuff can, which is prove they just trash
What's worse is management knew and refused to close... they went to prison for 7 years and they have been out and free and living rich comfortable lives for the past decade
lives are worthless to the wealthy.
When the employee said to Michael "I think I'm going to go now, please tell my family I love them" I got literal chills. So tragic.
it felt like something out of a horror movie. not real life.
i hate this
I started tearing up my heart sank 😢
@Sketchers.WeGotThaDrip the movie "Don't Blink" uses that exact phrase.
I hope that young woman passed as peacefully as possible and was able to comfort her family from the other side.
58:20
@@J4DE00?
The fact the government wouldn’t let them have a memorial at the site or park is absolutely insane and there is no way I’d wanna have anything to do with that building that was built in the same place.
for real. i hope what restless spirits lie there never let those go without knowing what they had suffered by the hands of sinister ignorance.
also- “luxury apartments” my. ass. whatever moneybag rents there should feel _shame_ knowing what ground they tread on. whenever their head hits that pillow at night i hope they hear the sound of the impact that monolith of greed made while crashing down.
i hope they realize what cruel irony it is that the same greed that ended numerous lives short is the exact reason they are now comfortably resting in an *air conditioned* apartment rather than having a memorial built for those who died.
i want them to wonder how they themselves sleep at night.
may those who stood idly by, knowing what future torture they’d inflict upon thousands of innocent lives, all while having dollar signs in their eyes never know the true peace that their victims deserve.
this tragedy was horrifically avoidable and i hope every putrid, rotten heart that knew what their ignorance would cause lay awake at night, being tormented by the souls killed by their hands…
but lastly, i hope more than anything that the victims of this tragedy find peace in their next lives, that those who miraculously survived learn to heal and seek growth, and that the countless lives affected by this tragedy as a whole- be it families or acquaintances- find solace in knowing that their loved ones are no longer suffering but rather waiting for them again in paradise when their time comes as well.
@@Fi6ment I hope that place is actually haunted.
The air conditioning wasn't actually broken. The vibrations of the roof units were putting additional stress on the structure and causing the visible cracks in the walls/ceiling to expand quicker, so management decided to turn them off... on their way out.
This really remind me of the ferry incident… gosh…
No way
what did they do again? which part? @@CodyCorvids
hopp we all can learn from this...from now if there is something wrong with a building...and it jsut cant be fixed no matter what...w all the bad signs...get out asap never come back
ik i live in a house thats also pretty bad but its like "just" mold and ceiling falling...idk...ok if its a 🏡 like home house...and u gotta pay rent and find another place first...its not easy..plus its not a massive place...but just a reminder to always be careful...i know we cant avoid some disasters ...at least were never too careful...rest in peace to the lives that were lost
Exactly. I've seen another documentary on this explaining it was built cheaply and was a ticking time bomb.
I was here in Seoul when the department store collapsed. I remember that between the initial rescues and Mr. Lee's rescue, they found a female survivor (around 7-8 days after the collapse, I think.). Rescuers tried to get her to an ambulance, but photographers blocked the way as they jostled each other to get the best shot. The survivor died on the way to the hospital because of these jackals who slowed her transport to the ambulance and to the hospital.
@@Suburban-Trevorwtf is wrong with you? Stop commenting on each and every comment and please stop disrespecting the victims by lying. Idk why you're lying and what motive lies behind it. But it's sick that someone can lie about this serious incident. Go get yourself checked or something. I feel pity for you. You're so sick. Please get some psychological help. I really hope you get better. May God bless you and your mental health 🙏
@@Suburban-Trevorwhat did you just say 😨
@@Suburban-Trevorweirdo
@@Suburban-TrevorULUL
@@Suburban-Trevor 😂😐
I was actually working in Korea at the time. My student was upset that I ended class late that day. He returned the next day thanking me because he was supposed to go to that department store but was late. He narrowly escaped being crushed. It was a true tragedy. Everyone was glued to the TV trying to see who would be rescued, if any.
Wow. Thank you for sharing.
Wow u saved his life ! ❤
@@onestevewaffles no. You're rude.
@TheGreatMutineerWaffle It is not something I can prove. It was a long time ago, but I was teaching English there. I remember the Seongsu Bridge collapsed in 1994, and then the dept store the year after. My friends were worried that I would face some major disaster in Seoul. Everyone flocked in front of the TV screen in the lobby the first few days, praying for more people to be found alive. When that last survivor was found, people cheered, hoping more would be found. It was a traumatic experience for the nation, and I would have to be a sick person to lie about that.
@@fcoderiiz Yeah, I'm the villain for asking for proof. Wow.
For anybody wondering;
Trapped 11 days: Choi Myeong-seok
Trapped 13 days: Yu Ji-hwan
Trapped 17 days: Park Seung-hyun
Are those the only three survivors? 😢
@@teku549 Unfortunately these 3 names are the only survivors
@@teku549 actually these are the three survivors who were found at the end, when they thought theres no way anyone would be alive past day 10. more people were rescued earlier!
My goodness. Those three are survivors to say the least. The mental grit it takes to survive that long is incredible
why did i search them hoping to see an update abt their life
Dude, the families trying to find their loved once in the rubble at the dump sight actually made me cry. I am so sorry for the mothers,fathers,sisters,brothers,uncles,aunts,grandpas,grandma's, ANYONE who lost someone they loved.
When you said they began moving valuable items out 4 hours before the collapse, rather than getting the people to leave, that actually made me gasp. They were concerned enough to get their valuables out, but not the people. It just shows you how little regard the Lee family had for human life. Absolutely despicable.
its shocking, I wanted to believe she made it up! I cannot believe anyone would ever do such a thing! What were people to this monster, pebbles to step upon?
😅.
This is capitalism in a nutshell - evil greed. Rich people with no regard for other human beings
I don’t want to type this like a defense, but rather to understand what makes them so monstrous. I had seen someone describe it along the lines of “situations like this show how much the wealthy have to lose when they may be held accountable.” I think it may have been skip intros vid on Veronica Mars, set in a town of ultra wealthy Californians. It’s wild to see tragedies like this, and like you said how insane it is to think they prioritized products over people. But when you consider they got 7 years, that may have been their move to be able to reclaim profit losses during the time after its collapse. Again do I think it’s even begins to make their decisions make sense, no. It’s just a piece as to why such extreme wealth inequality creates so many issues and causes people to no longer view each other as having any value, because when physical product ends up being worth more than this many lives it’s restructures a person priorities. Sorry for the tangentially related detour, I couldn’t help but think about how detached from society these people must be to view all of society in a similar way people interact with video game npcs
@@Shouja198 this is very true and a great critique of the capitalist system's effect on our collective psyche
7 years in prison is absolute crap. This man literally MURDERED 502 people. Someone can kill a single person and get 15 years and prison, this guy can commit FIVE HUNDRED AND TWO murders and get 7. This is extremely unacceptable given the fact it is completely his and his family’s fault.
money is power, its amazing that he got 7 years at all tbh. He probably didn't serve all of them
yeah, fuck the government of korea.
as a korean i feel so fucking ashamed for all of this bullshit with jail time.
most people get such short ass times in jail even when it shouldve been much more.
@@lilstardrops He did. Then he died a year after getting out.
@@SuperLeonBlade damn
South Korea is democratic country. Only for poor people.
I had the mindset of “it wouldn’t happen to me” or “ it wasn’t my family “ but after hearing alot of story’s this one kinda made me realize to have more compassion for other people’s lost.
It could have been anyone. Us included. JESUS taught us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves ❤
another comment said we are someone else to someone else...tragedy could happen to anyone...were never too safe...i always pray to God to protect me and my family...truly dont know it could strike anyone anytime just like illness or sudden death liek this or from your own body
“This is one of those thing you always figure will happen to someone else”
“Unfortunately, we’re all ‘someone else' to someone else”
My grandma is actually a survivor from this incident so this case really does hit close to home. I can’t imagine I almost lost my grandma over some calculating cheapness.
damn. she's really brave
wow im so sorry... shes amazing ❤❤
wish i could say the same for mine 💔
im really sorry for your loss
I’m happy she’s ok! I’m so sorry for the people that were lost and their families. 😢
My mom was there the day before the mall collapsed when she was pregnant with me. It’s scary to think what could’ve happened.
We're thankful you both are still here with us. 🙏
Scary to think that you woudnt be here today if she was in the accident
You probably wouldn't be writing this.
God bless you and your mother your a pretty lucky person it’s really traumatizing to believe what would have happened
Praise God for his protection.
The greed in this man has got to be some of the worst ever known to mankind. The fact that he’s a multimillionaire yet he’s so worried about saving on building costs knowing it could lead to danger and death, is absolutely sad and wild.
Spoiler: he's not the worst. Greed has no limit.
if a child is saying they see something strange, you leave. YOU RUN.
this case just made my heart drop for the first time.. Disgusting.
The story of the three people trapped trying to comfort one another and two of them dying made me tear up.
There is nothing like knowing you aren't alone. Especially in a situation like this
I dont normally get emotional with things like this, due to being desensitized,
but when I heard that part I couldn't stop crying. This is beyond heartbreaking.
Especially the part where one of them said i think im going to go now that was sad
Yes ...this story made me cry
@@Gqto truly heartbreaking and even b4 writing this comment i had goosebumps...ok right now still...i hope she rest in peace...i hope her family knows how much she loves them...i hope the guy can recover from the traumatic event...
That judgment of only 7 years is criminal. They should receive a life sentence. This is horrible.
Yes. Life in prison would be better.
@@ville__that has no relevance fym 💀💀
@@ville__What-
What the ever-loving-heck? What are you on about?@@ville__
Sometimes, I think prison isn't enough. The family should be made to dig through the rubble by hand, day in and day out, until every victim is accounted for. They put them there, they can dig them up.
This is exactly the kind of thing that happened with Rana Plaza in Bangladesh in 2013, except it was garment manufacturing and over 1,000 died. So heart breaking that greed can take so many lives.
Stephanie should cover this one!!
yes!!! Stephanie needs to cover this!!
i want to know this
Yeah I remember this one. It happened in my town. Still can't forget this tragedy
as someone with ADHD, i absolutely LOVED how you narrate stories. It grabs my attention because of how captivating it is. I usually never even last 15 minutes into a podcast/video because I get off track easily. Such a sad and traumatic story. The woman who will never get to see her daughter turn 31 had me sobbing in my school parking lot 😔💔
For real!
interesting. as someone with adhd also, there were many moments where i was thinking “…ok get on with it!!” (respectfully)
same here
@@ThunderHOWL16Yeah I couldn't keep focused long enough for her to get to the next detail, lots of delaying
@@ThunderHOWL16 yeah im watching on 1.5 speed and i still want it to go faster . She milks everything abit
…as someone with an architecture degree, the descriptions of what was going on during the construction and design of that mall will be giving me nightmares just as much as the following disaster. INDUSTRY STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS HAVE A REASON.
And are written in blood.
It stuck with me in one of my beginning art classes that there was a library that was built but they didn’t taken into consideration the weight of the books and the library collapsed under the weight of books. It was an otherwise structurally sound building. I don’t understand how someone could knowingly do that to so many people and their own family
My great grandfather was an architect and told my mom never to go to Los Vegas because it was made of cardboard and fake gold. He believed them to not be structurally sound and would collapse. From what I know most of that been torn down.
They dont make rules for things that never happen.
Regulations are written in blood.
Hell to the no, if my child said those things, I would've left SOOOO FAST! thank you for keeping us informed and for your story telling skills.
But It is no for judge maybe they died so be respectfull or If some of them is alive.
Or maybe they’re schizophrenic
Same. I would have left too if my kid was saying he saw an old man telling him to leave the store now. I believe there are spirits and I believe the spirit was trying to help people because they had already died in the collapse. The spirit traveled back in time to warn people so they wouldn't die like he did. Laugh at me if you want. Why else would the kid talk about seeing a bloody man telling him to leave.
@@Tweetycew1 ok schizo
@@ve_rb or just playing pretend? It's not very common for kids that young to have schizophrenia.
So, they were making $400,000 a day and that's why they didn't evacuate? With 542 dead, that's around $738 per human life lost. This guy legitimately put a price on those innocent people and decided his business was worth more.
Now, I don't have a business degree, but I think returning customers are great, all those who died that day could have brought more money in the future. It's could have been a simple building collapse, and no bad- no, irreparable - reputation damage. Just an awful person
This guy only got 7 years?! WHAT THE FUCK?! That makes no sense! There are serial killers who got death sentences or life without parole and got 7 years?! And only because the wives and children of wealthy men were killed?! I have no words.
My father was at work during that day of collapse, and about an hour before it collapsed, he noticed the ceiling and floor at the restaurant near the 4th floor had numerous cracks that seemed strange and the ventilations were off. He didn’t feel okay with staying there and just left to eat somewhere else.
My mom on the other hand who was supposed to pick up our clothes at dry cleaners in the mall happened to be sick so she decided not to go on that day.
This mall used to be our usual spot to visit back then. The owner of this building used his ways to break numerous codings and laws by lying to the people and killed many lives on that day.
I'm so, so glad your parents didn't go there that day!
I'm also never gonna get self-conscious for looking around everywhere I can for details again. Not that I'm paranoid, just a visual artist and very curious, so I end up spotting a lot of little details most people don't notice. But I know that I probably look suspicious sometimes, but damn, I'm so glad your dad noticed those cracks!
@@damien678 yeah and always trust your instincts
im so glad something in your parents' gut told them to not go/stay there. i wish you and your family the best
Its insane that both your parents, if following their usual routines, would have been there that day, but both of them were saved from being there during the collapse. So glad theyre ok.
I may not know you, but I am so happy your parents weren't a part of that tragedy. I can't even imagine what it would have been like. Especially as a kid to lose both parents like that. I hope you all are happy and healthy!
Being cheap is expensive. My heart breaks for the victims and their families. Such a tragedy.
You would think wealthy people would know that, what with the working class PERFECTLY well aware how expensive living paycheck to paycheck can be, and how it limits the capacity for savings. But, too often, those who have never known financial hardship are terribly financially illiterate, and don’t realize the exact lesson you stated: being cheap is expensive.
It costs more to have to replace a lower quality part every couple years than get a proper part the works correctly in the first place that will work double the time.
yeah :(
@@HavianElathis is entitlement. The ppl that they built it. They don't care what others will experience. It is about their experience n what they can get out of it while dodging the problems that can bring their outcome
I can’t imagine the anger they felt as they uncovered the reasons for the collapse. Some big shot effectively decided their loved ones lives had a price
@@HavianElathats how the rich stay rich by being lazy and cheap
"I think im gonna go now, please tell my family i love them" is so heartbreakingly sad.
The father who lost all three of his girls in the collapse really gets to me for some reason. I couldn't imagine how devastated he and the other families felt. Also, how in the hell did the owner not get a longer sentence?! His actions cost 502 people their lives. He deserves the worst.
I'm from Southeast Asia and the description of the kid seeing spirits/ghosts sitting on people's necks sent CHILLS down my spine. Here, we have a superstition that if you see spirit sitting on someone's neck , it is an omen of death or a sign that something bad is going to happen.
That was so scary to hear...and your comment made it scarier
Same in India
We hv different classes of spirits and ghosts, and there's one that sits on ur neck
In bengali we say "Ghar e chapa" meaning "pressing on ur neck"
@@spilltea4241 oh that's cool! I'm bengali but I didn't know we had ghost classifications
@@lilcorner ur grandma never told u ghost stories?
I’m also Southeast Asian and we believe that young kids do really see spirits. My 4yo baby brother waved and called out our grandpa’s name who had passed away like years before.
My dad was supposed to meet someone for a meeting over coffee in that mall. He was on his way to leave for the meeting when he received an email saying that there was a change of plans, the meeting was going to be at a different location in the opposite direction of the mall. If it wasn't for the email, my dad could've been a victim himself. I could've never been born. It's crazy to think about how my dad's fate was determined by a mere email. Korea still needs to change many of their laws in regards to white collar crimes so that tragedies like these never happen in the first place.
OMG!! thank goodness, that's a huge testimony..
Even crazier to think that it’s really only because they decided to turn the AC off and the restaurants closed
Wow!!!!
There was a huge train crash in Australia before I was born and my Dad was meant to be on the train, but missed it. The crash is known as "The day of the roses" because people threw thousands of roses on the track in condolence of the lives lost that day.
Had he been on it, chances are, I would never have been born.
🙏🏽
The way that the expensive and luxury goods sold at the mall were considered by Lee family members to be worth more than human lives is so sickening.
This is scaring me so bad because I live on the fourth floor of a 5 story condo building. All I can about now is how there are like 30 units with furniture, heavy appliances, bathtubs, all this stuff, right over my head. I never considered any of that before 😭
Learn about your building and you may assured.
Residential buildings are even more extensively tested. Learn what your weight limits are. That’s why gyms aren’t usually on higher floors.
Right? I never considered how buildings are made. The weight of the builds, the limits to the floor/ walls, books, and etc. It crazy, but yeah. The rules of gravity don't turn off.
My mom was nearly a victim of this, she was only a teenager when it happened, and my late grandmother thought she was in the store but she had left a few hours before, my grandmother already started to mourn when my mom didnt answer her pager
That is so scary
I cant imagine the heartbreak your grandmother felt, im so glad your mother made it out safely ❤
babara!
❤❤
Its fine your c6 would ressurect her if she died
@@ardaoguzhan8181I get it hahaha
Today, I found out my grandmother died from this accident. My mom said she always went to that store, and she hasn't spoken about her since. My mom was about to turn 20 when the accident happened. Thanks of the information about what happened during the accident.
I'm sorry your mom went through such a traumatizing event when she was young. I know I would feel so torn if my mom died in such a violent way. I send my love and condolences to your family.
My condolences to you and your mother. I hope your grandmother is at peace ❤
Im so sorry this happened. I cant imagine what your mother would've went through.
I’m sorry for you and your mom❤
My condolences for you and your family ❤❤❤
Hearing everyone rescue Michael made me want to cry. What a tragic case, but so glad they were able to save those they did. Tons of respect to everyone who came forward to help.
“It’s alright, columns are strong!”
I have never heard a bigger lie…
"My daughter turned 30 this year..." My heart dude. That just really solidified how truly heartbreaking this entire disaster was. That poor mother never got to see her turn 31.
😔😭🤧
I just feel sad that she dont leave any last will, in case another person than her is survive to tell it. At least some last will can strengthen the deceased family over the grief
10:41
thats the time of it
are all these details from real news? just wondering how did she get all the details and whether its based on solid news 😅 sorry first time here
They killed 502 people and they get 7 years? Horrible. I can’t even imagine being an attorney and defending this before going to sleep with myself. Gross.
Edit: EVERYONE in the comments are telling me I shit on the attorney. First of all I said that I personally couldn't do it myself. And second of all, apparently defending murder is only ok when you are being paid to do it? Attorney's are cool but not when it's about telling the family of 502 people that lost their life due to negligence and greed that what their murderer did was "not a big deal" fight in the reply I guess.
That is your job as the attorney..
Why shade the attorney when you can shade the actual justice system or the responsible person for building a dangerous place?
In America they would get no time
@@Suburban-TrevorWow you are such a tough cool guy bro, applause, everybody!1!!!
@@cosmiqoutcastthat dude is so gross :(
You did something that no horror movie in twenty five years, and an endless barrage of horror stories and horror podcasts haven't managed to do: You actually gave me literal chills up my spine with the way you told the little kid seeing the ghosts. Just the way you described bloody people crawling "up" from somewhere to climb up people who couldn't see or feel them, it's genuinely terrifying.
This story just reminded me of the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed around a thousand workers. Corporate Greed and Bad Architecture has truely killed so many 😞
It is so crazy how greed caused such a disaster. The families can never be paid enough for the tragedy they endured.
For real 😢
@@ville__what the fuck is your problem?
@@ville__Animals are on the human food chai, simple as that
@@ville__ huh?????
@@ville__plants and fungi also wants to live 🙄
As someone who survived 9/11 I am sitting here crying. I pray for every family that went through this horrific ordeal
oh wow i’m so sorry..
God, if that isn’t a (well-deserved) condemnation for the asshole who created this building I don’t know what is 😣 My aunt was working 2 buildings down that day, and I’ve never had the courage to ask what happened before she finally walked out barefoot over bridge at 7p. Or what happened to that day’s pair of beautiful incredibly expensive high-class-banker designer stilettos 🥺 I’m so sorry for your experience… ❤🩹
One was caused by intentional evil...the other caused by passive evil. Both the same results of innocent lives bejng taken
❤
❤
Sometimes i wish your videos were just 10 minutes so i can know everything faster but i also love how you tell us everything. You tell us about the victims, their stories and their families and you explains things with examples to help us understand and its amazing. You truly advocate for every victim and make sure their stories are told. I would never have known about this if i hadn't found your channel
Ive heard about this disaster before, but the way you relayed it really brought home the magnitude of the whole situation. Thank you for your telling!
My family and I were in the department store few hours before the collapse.
My mom felt something was off with how hot and humid it was inside and took me and my siblings home.
At the time of the collapse, I was few hundred yards away at the kindergarten playground (I was about 8yo) when I heard a large boom followed by dust and debris flying everywhere.
I ran towards the sound (very stupid & unsafe) and saw people completely covered in dust and blood running out.
Thank you for your thorough research. May the victims rest in peace. Wishing the survivors healing from this traumatic tragedy.
Your mom is such smart woman. We should always trust our instincts an sences. And you are also very brave but priorites yourself and ofc family after yourself
@@Suburban-Trevor You are a liar. You are a creep with a fetish. This is your other comment
@Suburban-Trevor
3 days ago
i was also there when it collapsed i was a teacher i could see the building when it happened it wqs so crazy almost like it was in slow motion it didnt seem real everyone covered in dust its unreal just how she described it looked like they were covered in flour its unreal to imagine unless you were there how many people were running away and let me not mention the screaming and crying it was really an attack on the senses from the sounds to smells you cant describe what its like this young lady did an amazing job but still does it no justice i wish i coukd buy her dirty socks i would pay top dollar for some of her smelly used dirty socks so i can put em on my face while i touch myself rip to everyone that died in this tragedy 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
I’m an engineer by education. Sampoong Mall collapse was our study material. I’ve devoured many videos and materials regarding this collapse and this astoundingly callous indifference of the owners.
But most of what I learned about talked about the tragedy in a mechanical sense. The increased weight of the fifth floor, how flat slab construction pancakes when it fails, how HVAC vibration aggravates the cracks creating the conditions for failure, etc. I have never heard this story retold emphasizing the human angle as much as how Steph does it. From this jaded older millennial engineer’s heart, I thank you.
Here is one angle I could add to the story: one of the contributors to this collapse was, ironically, due to a safety feature. By law in Korea, malls are required to have fireproof shutters enclosing the escalators. However what this entails in Sampoong was cutting into the support beams to make space for the shutters. The same beams that were already thinned and definitely have way less internal strength to support the upper floors, and now a portion of it was *cut* .
Oh and by the way Lee Joon originally called Woosung to construct an *apartment complex* , not a shopping mall. The dead load (weight carried without any person in the structure) calculations alone would be drastically different, and this is BEFORE the fifth floor, before the restaurants, before the heated floors for the Korean-style sit down restaurants, and before the HVAC units, and definitely before the thinned beams and support.
Had Lee Joon gone with Woosung’s original plan, the safety factor was over 2. Meaning it would be so strong it could carry twice the original spec load without failing.
But as they say, money talks.
Until a building collapses and 500 people dies. Then, and only then, perhaps there will be a reckoning to satisfy the howls and cries of the wronged.
Sadly, as time would prove, money talks louder still…
Had the first construction firm alerted the authorities of discrepancies, cud the loss of lives wud have been avoided??!!
thank you for your professional insight. clearly wanton negligence, tragic.
@vsg1233 that’s a good question. I wonder if architects / construction company’s can report inconsistencies & cut corners to the authorities.
I wonder if they were even aware that he hadn’t followed the original design.
Also don’t the builders themselves also have a duty to report safety violations.
Also @vsg1233 that’s a good question. I wonder if architects / construction company’s are liable for reporting inconsistencies & cut corners to the authorities in Korea.
I wonder if they were even aware that he hadn’t followed the original design.
Also don’t the builders themselves also have a liability / duty to report hazardous situations & safety violations in Korea?
Do you think culture had any impact - are Korean people less likely to question workplace authority or refuse chain of command?
@@spareaccount1969 yea all these are relevant doubts. However, as I am not a Korean I am not the right person to comment anything on the culture / system in Korea. In India too there have been cases like this though less severe. Even in India as the country is still on the path of development, corruption is one of the factors which is a hindrance and which is being tackled slowly. I still have my doubts whether corruption can be totally eradicated in any country, whether it’s a developed or a developing one??!! I wish the first firm had acted as a whistle blower though.
I love that your videos are so in depth and I get to learned more about construction and architecture along with the crazy stuff people do. Keep on these good work ❤
The way this is narrated is beautiful, really puts you in the scene... i think i teared up at least 5 times
The mother saying "No, no, the day she dies is that day I die" really hit me with the realization of how many people must have been waiting there for their beloved ones. Their survival was extremely unlikely, but the fact that one person had gotten out was a sign that there would definitely be more people alive in there. Imagine the terror people felt when they started using the heavy machinery, risking crushing anyone that remained strong and got trough all that for so long. Just imagining someone I love being in that situation scares me so much that I know I would go insane after the first few days, I would dig in there by hand till the three weeks mark is over.
Usually I find the stories disturbing and sad, but this one was really on another level. The sheer magnitude of how many people were affected, the stories shared from families involved, the sheer evil behind how it all happened......I never cry when watching these videos but this one had me in tears.
That part put me in tears! This is so tragic! Lee is a disgusting person!
this is every parent's worst nightmare... i can't imagine the sheer terror and horror they must've felt realizing their loved ones were trapped or perished in this tragedy.
The father's story made me tear up, ran all the way to the site and dig through rubble with his hands, I can only imagine the pain, the small shimmer of hope that they could be at any hospital. This is a tragedy that should never ever happen again.
Can you imagine, as a parent, losing ALL of your children? The future of the family you had built? No more laughter at home, nothing ahead. Jesus
He had THREE and he lost ALL of them. I cannot even begin to comprehend the pain. I think that usually if you are unfortunate enough to go through the loss of a child, having others alive is what makes you keep going. I don’t know how those parents survived losing three kids at once.
This is not the first collapse that claimed many lives. It stands to reason it won't be the last. As long as the rich get to make a profit. And NO they don't care. Otherwise, we wouldn't be as concerned as we should be. Even now.
@@giulia6344faith. I can’t relate I don’t have kids and couldn’t imagine losing any if I did, but I can almost guarantee you the thing that keeps em going is faith. Believing in God (or whatever the equivalent is for their culture), and an afterlife. Than it’s not just my kids died, it instead becomes, my kids have passed on, and one day I’ll reunite with them again. It’d be much harder to grieve, and get over something as horrible as that as an atheist. It just would be, much easier to cope believing you little babies are being watched over in the afterlife, maybe by relatives that have also passed, or angels, maybe God. But my point is people who have faith don’t see death in the same way that non believers do, and as a result it’s not as (take this with a grain of salt) big of a deal in a way because they believe death isn’t the end. Whereas someone who doesn’t believe would just believe their kids gone forever, with their lives being cut short for nothingness.
Honestly, I'd lose all faith in a god that would let that happen. Any of this happen.@@b3_op103
I am in awe at how you tell this story, so much knowledge and so well explained , i just subscribe to your channel, second video in and your details on everything is amazing ❤❤❤
If someone says that "we need to go right now" or "run" - you damn go right now. You can discuss it later. It’s like with animals running away, when everything seems to be normal. Perhaps nothing will happen, but perhaps it will save your life.
The story about the father and his daughters, the blind one who did the unthinkable, tore my heart in half
i got goosepumps... this whole thing is so sad omfg...
They wanted to make the world a better place, yet their enemy, corruption, killed them. Rest in peace to the victims.
omg jackpot sad girl pfp
I was holding back tears but that made me cry immediately
corruption is behind most deaths; covid included@@JaydenChen-rd3ps
The father that lost all his children and donated to their favorite charities made my eyes water. Fulfilling their dreams before he goes made me sad but is so honorable. I hope all 502+ souls are at peace. It should have never happened
You told this story so well! Incredible. ❤
Thank you for sharing….I visibly saw how much sharing that was affecting you. A terrible thing to have happened all over greed. It’s a sad world sometimes 😢
If you set the utter tragedy aside, the level of absolute criminal negligence to cut every single corner possible and make the place appear to be 'high end' and 'luxury' while actually being a trashy death trap,... is impressive. The mind absolutely boggles.
monetary greed 😢
Just idiocy. Businesses are a lot more profitable if they don’t collapse.
it's absolutely astonishing how some could be so actively negligent and ignorant, it even feels so much easier to just follow the time rules and go about things properly
Exactly. This is why wealthy idiots can’t be architects aswell.
@@Ooweeeoooeh theoretically but if your in the USA there are plenty of examples where they shift assest easily and make one company fo bankrupt and take the fall for an issue but never actually pay out. I mean Johnson and Johnson did that for the cancer causing baby powder. No one is getting anything cause they switched companies and shifted blame then claimed "how can we pay woops gotta declare bankruptcy" sure they might lose 2 pennies compared.
As an architect, I loved your simplification of the parts of the structure and why it failed. Tears are coming from the families, and from the ignorance and lack of awareness of Lee from making a literal killing estructure.
It wasn't ignorance though, he knew very well which makes it disgusting
his disgregard of the situation and neglect of the building is what happened @@Blabou
I'm a structural engineer, and those simplified explanations were really good. And the modifications are horrifying, especially to the columns. There are a lot of times developers will complain about things being over engineered, but comparing buildings built to modern codes to those that aren't, you realize why most people enter a building and never even wonder if it might fall on them. This guy prioritizing profits over people just to save what, a few months worth of revenue? Too bad the system was so corrupt to let him bully everyone into going along with it.
Same. I was horrified
great research and putting it all in such easy to understand words 💯
Thank u . u have bring this story a lots of honor we have hear of this briefly . but we have never hear it complete like today
I never would have known of this tragic event but I randomly came across one of your videos which led me eventually to watch this one. This story brought me to tears. It was heartbreaking but also at times truly awe inspiring and beautiful due to the heroics of all those involved in the rescue efforts. I wish that you never had to tell it but thank you for sharing nonetheless. 💔 Keep doing what you’re doing. Much respect. ❤
After listening to so many of stephanie's podcasts, so many deaths are due to corruption, greedy individuals/corporations, scapegoating, government/worker incompetence, and turning a blind eye to problems that can be prevented. this is so heartbreaking that innocent people have to suffer for this, including kind hearted samaritans that help in the rescue efforts.
It’s stories like these, and the recent tragedy on Maui which I was a part of relief operations for, that makes me distrust the government and the corporations. Greed, ineptitude, and slaps on the wrist for guilty parties is absolutely atrocious.
Yet despite that the fact that regular people were jumping in and risking their lives to save everyone they possibly could still proves that people will do good to help strangers even if it can kill them.
@@kuo8088It’s downright evil and corrupt what’s going on. The things I say and know, many people call crazy, but the evidence is right in our faces, if we don’t ignore and connect the dots. Back in January they had a conference to turn Maui into a “smart island.” For years it’s been known how corrupt Hawaii’s government is. Crazy thing is they have the military technology to make these things happen. DARPA, and Haarp, are probably things many might want to look into. Those Maui fire. Celebrities like Oprah were prepared months in advance for those “fires” and hired guards etc to keep locals/tourists from seeking refuge on her property. The ones at the top, definitely get a slap on the wrist and reprimanded in a way to appease the public, but in reality, nothing happened to discipline them, it’s all lights camera action.
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@@kuo8088
@@kuo8088 May I ask if you heard of any missing children after the fires?
@@websurfer5772 one child had passed due to the fires, luckily the rest were able to escape but the rumors spreading in social media is busy trying to sensationalize a tragedy. Official missing lists were published, one having died with his family pet, and the all the others are accounted for.
I’m glad many were able to escape, but I really don’t get why people are trying to come up with all these conspiracy theories about the blaze. The claims of thousands of missing children, or hundreds of children disappeared, and some death laser that hit Lahaina, or things like that minimize the horror the locals experienced, and what happened to my friends and their families.
from what I can tell, the whole sleeping thing during incidents like this is pretty common. I've heard a couple stories about people getting trapped in caves doing the same thing. sleep, wake up, scream, repeat. I think it's the body conserving energy, you tire yourself out so quickly by worrying and screaming that your body just shuts down and conserves energy by sleeping.
Yeah it makes sense; adrenaline surges can only last so long and there’s always gonna be a crash once you’ve burned through it. Then I guess it’s just a constant cycle of panic-crash-panic-crash etc.
You tire yourself out by panicking.
Your body wants to sleep, relax and be in a more comfortable state.
It will shut down just to achieve that.
The flop response, makes you basically ragdoll and dissociate, some people even literally faint, its a panic respose generally triggered by the feeling that there is nothing you can do to stop what is happening to you or protect yourself from it, it's a reaction to complete and utter helplessness. Coupled with the starvation and oxygen deprivation you have a very low chance of being able to stay awake, because the usual panic responses your body has aren't worth the energy they use up in a situation like that.
So genuinely they probably weren't screaming while awake after the first day or two, not until something in their environment changed and made them either believe help was close or they were about to be killed faster (like being crushed by concrete). Screaming takes up a lot of energy and a lot of oxygen so if you try it for too long you'll faint and find yourself too weak to continue once you wake back up again, it will begin to take conscious effort to scream, and you will lose motivation to. If you panic too much over hours let alone days your body can go into shock or you could even have a heart attack and simply die just from the stress of that situation, I wouldn't be surprised if that is what killed some of those other people who survived the initial collapse but died in the waiting afterwards. The 3 survivors are incredibly resilient.
I feel like it's similar to when babies can't regulate because they don't know how to so their body's fall asleep due to the traumatic feeling of being alone. I think being trapped in such a way the body just relies on what it knows and shuts the system down to avoid as much trauma as possible.
@rottenmangopod
Thank you for sharing this story! I had never heard of this before.
What a horrific story. I’ve heard about the disaster, but you’re story telling and the personal stories you tell make it impossible not to listen to the entire story. You have a gift with the way you tell these stories making everyone listening to you to feel for the victims like we know them. Just wow.
The “I’m going to go now,tell my family I love them” hit hard…that’s heartbreaking…I almost cried in that I wish their families well and the families of the people who died well
RIP to everyone that died 🕊️🪦
bro what 💀💀
@@Suburban-Trevorur obsessed
Exactly what I was gonna say sourgummies
@@Suburban-Trevorsubpar rage bait
The fact that it was even a debate to evacuate the mall makes my stomach turn. Disgusting. Thank you for this informative and moving story. The way you shared the stories of those impacted truly put this story of greed in full perspective.
Thank you! You are an amazing storyteller! Such a heartbreaking event.
I’m so thankful you do these stories from other countries. My heart goes out to everyone who lost a loved one, or who lives with the ptsd of this tragedy.
This was honestly the most bizarre thing I ever heard. Lee didn’t wanna pay for more safety things in his mall? Greed is ugly. The crazy part is he is/was wealthy. Yet he couldn’t “afford” more things to ensure safety of the mall? Just wow. The fact his daughter was in the mall when collapsed. He is truly a disgusting selfish man. I’m glad he got 7 years in jail. Although he deserved a life time
He deserves way more. 7 years for 500 lives? This story broke my heart.
He deserved life
its true that the rich only want more and more.
should have gotten life
He deserves more than 7 years
when you said the families felt jealousy watching other families finding their surviving family members, i broke down in tears. i can totally imagine feeling jealous knowing my 2 boys were dead while others were finding their children. i totally get it
I think its normal. I lost my mother a few years ago and sometimes I feel jealous when I see mothers and daughters doing things my mom and I used to do. The key is not letting jealousy turn to bitterness 😢
@@melissamoonchild9216im sorry ❤
It's normal for humans to feel jealous.
We never grow out of wanting all desires.
@@KyleEvrawell yeah, who wouldn't want their loved ones to survive?
Very well explained. Especially the design flaws. Thank you.
The father that donated over a million to causes his daughters loved, broke my heart.
The parents who lost 3 daughters' story is so damn sad man, I hope the best for them.
Yeah same 😭😭
@@Suburban-Trevorone thing that father can say is that he loved his children. Yours? Not so much
@@Suburban-Trevor obvious troll lmao
I started crying at that one 😢
@@Suburban-Trevorstfu and stop replying on every single comment
Of all the murder/mystery/crime documentaries, this one and the ferry full of children are just triggering in a way I can’t explain. Like awful phobias I didn’t know I had triggering a past life trauma or some shit. There’s no way I can even comprehend being in that situation, especially the 11 days of silence in the dark basement.
That boat video was so depressing😭
@@ProdLucio i dont know how to describe it but it feels like south korea has some of the most messed up "incidents" and crimes- most of which go relatively unpunished. itaewon, sewol, the humidifier scam, their freaking cults, and this... it's so crazy because there's so many outstanding people in Korea that its hard to see how greedy idiots like these just toy with their lives.
like the birth rates aren't even doing that well these days and so many young people are suffering from their predecessor's careless actions. if we don't protect the next generation, there is no future for anyone. its like the rich people/government are stuck in the mentality of feudal lords and serfs and its so hard to watch
This video, the ferry and the Korean Halloween festival last year are some of the saddest stories I’ve heard that make me lose faith in humanity. All these stories tell me is that society cares more about money than human lives. It breaks my heart
No because both are so irritating because they could’ve been prevented. Like the tragedies were both caused by neglect and illegal construction.
I didn't even finish the ferry incident I can't bear to even listen to it.
You are an AMAZING story teller! Your pace and tone are exceptional!
What an incredibly tragic & horrific story. I had never heard of this until today!
I live in South Florida & was reminded of the collapse of the building in Surfside. Although the government has agreed to make a memorial at a nearby area, they have plans to construct a new building on the site. It feels so disrespectful and all of these souls were lost on this spot… but it is waterfront property so greed seems to have won. (Although as of this week there is still the rubble of the foundation of the building in the spot).
Thank you for your research and sharing this! Thinking of everyone that was lost that day 🤍
I just graduated with 2 degrees in civil & mechanical engineering. As you were listing all changes in concrete & column design, I was screaming my head off because that is crazy. When he fired the engineers, i knew it would end ugly. I can't believe plan checkers took bribes & let that thing go up. I don't even have a professional license & I wouldn't take a cent. I mean, it was honestly just took a few typical hand calcs from a college level concrete design class to tell u that place would fall. My professional field experience has always been in HVAC mechanical design in buildings. I also have experience in plumbing engineering design. We would always contact structural team when we were putting even a typical RTU. We actually would specify equipment weight in the roof plan so the structural could see if it would hold. also made sure sometimes that it was mounted on a beam for more support. not just unsupported parts of the ceiling. especially for such massive units. This guy's stamp should not have been accepted & any engineer should be horrified to put their stamp on those plans. Every engineer should've said no. But it seems he also changed the previous plans & went off-script so engineers would be in court about that. if they stamped anything like the thin columns crap, they should hang. We know better than to stamp things like that.
Very good video! I will honestly recommend it to my university professors to show at least the construction explanation in first semester engineering courses to show what exactly could go wrong when cutting corners & recommend showing, arguably, some of the tragic situations to help develop ethics, which we learned in our first semester & civil engineering students learn in one of their first upper division courses for construction management.
You are a decent person. These so called engineers are nothing more than murderers. Good luck with your journey in life. I wish you nothing but the best.❤
same here ! i'm planning on going to structural engineering and i'm just losing my mind at how this went on. Where I live there is just way too many precautions in place, the governmnet is directly involved with large constructions, third party inspections, there a professional engineering group that is in charge of making sure rules are followed. The owner was horrible, but the engineerings and construction company should have never let him get away with it. They should have reported it. Just absolutely horrendous.
Capitalist countries are full of corruption that causes disasters.
What did you think about the concrete and steel building not being able to handle a book store on a upper floor? How crazy is that?
The sheer arrogance, greed and hubris of that man!!
It is just absolutely disgusting that this could've been avoided so many times. They had so many warnings. Unbelievable negligence and greed in that family. The part about deciding to move in restaurants and heavy AC tanks gave me chills. They made this happen and gave people no chance to escape. There should've been a memorial there at the VERY LEAST.
Not giving them a proper memorial cemented how little they value human life :'( horrible!!!
koreans are too resilient for that. They grieve and they move on. It's the perpetual victim mentality that leads people to need memorials.
@Amygondor that is not true at all.
There are so many stories of business people cutting corners that it is a wonder as to how some of them havent caught on of which is more expensive, quality materials or a lawsuit?
49:50 "the girls are at there shopping" i literally can't imagine how he felt at that moment - even i felt a shiver and an unnamable emotion....
Great narration...concise information given in a heartfelt way..
The dedication of the victims' family is both incredible and heartbreaking when hearing about the searches. The man who ran on foot to the rubble of the store in his work suit to claw away at the rubble for his three daughters absolutely broke my heart.
The part about the families going to the dump sites to search for their loved ones is so tragic. This whole tragedy is such a mess. I hope the survivors were able to heal or are healing now. So sad.
Have you considered covering the Canadian serial killer case, where the government is refusing to search the Prairie Green landfill, where the killer said the bodies were, because they are Indigenous women. Its been almost 2 years.
Wow you’re an amazing story teller. I teared up twice. Thank you
That fact the government didn’t do anything to the family’s but money disgusts me. You can see how messed up this world gets everyday. It’s all about money. Not about the victims. Not about the families. Just money and land. Disgusting.
Right now not even the average Joe can get some plot of land and their money disappears thanks to the manufactured crisis and inflation. So yeah, this world sucks. But the system can't go on forever, it's fake af. It will crumble.
I turned thirty this year. My mom died a month after. Now, it's a month after that. It's still fresh, I'm still barely starting to process. That woman, that auntie, hit so close to home it hurt. They were probably around the same age. She was thinking of her daughter until her last moments. I'm so glad Michael survived so he could pass it on.
Rest in peace, both of you moms. Thank you to the rescuers.
I’m so sorry for you loss of your mother big hugs sent to you love
Im so sorry for your loss
I’m sorry for your loss. It takes about two years to process.
I cried several times watching this. This video is so well done and you really told the story well.
Thank you for not cutting out on details, from the infrastructure to the victim's survival testimony, I think that it is important to know as much as much so that we can truly grasp how much of a tragedy this was. Thank you for work!! I pray the victim's are in a better place, and that their families can find peace
This was so so heartbreaking. It reminded me of a similar tragedy that happened in my country Bangladesh. The tragedy was called "Rana Plaza Tragedy" which killed 1,134 Bangladeshi garment workers. We mourn the deaths every year, and it still breaks my heart remembering all the poor souls that lost their lives because of a heartless bastard who built extra floors on the building that wouldn't be able to support it
👳♂️
I was gonna comment that too. That was a heartbreaking incident.
@@ve_rb👽
I feel so deeply about this since it was looked at by the media for like a day before it was all about how many companies would have to find new factories... I mourn for the people lost to capitalism, and for tragedies like Rana. I know it's futile, but I hope that there's never anything like that again
I remember that case. 10 Triangle Shirtwaists (garment factory, 100 women burned to death inside because the fire doors were locked). It got me hard. I hope it never happens again.
I love that you told some of the victim's stories, it really puts into perspective the fact that each number was a person. A full person with a life, dreams, families. Hearing "500 victims" already sounds like a lot, but hearing at least 1 story about 1 victim makes it so... personal.
Greed is an ugly thing. It's crazy that they knew that the building was collapsing and chose to save the valuable items and have a meeting instead of evacuating right away. Truly cruel and heartbreaking
My dad was an architect and he was AT THE SCENE (on the stairs area, the only part of the building that was still standing) and saw the person got rescued after people gave up to search for more. He was there to see if the remaining parts of the building would collapse.
A+ narration. I don't cry for much, and certainly never for Hollywood, but you got a couple tears to come through. Way to build a story 👌👌
The part where you kept listing reasons why the building was unstable just kept making my heart sink further and further.
I didn't stick around long enough for that. Probably should've talked about that sooner. I thought this story was really poorly told. My gf and I turned it off. Hella annoying to watch
@@danielx22its not a story… but i get what you mean as at points it was hard to follow
@@glasspixie8229 sounds like a story to me... what is it then? either way it's terribly structured
LIKE WHATS WITH THE SHORTCUT!?!?
@@danielx22it’s not a story. It’s true crime. A real life incident that happened and to demean it into a “story” for your entertainment is so disgusting.. you can’t expect someone to tell a complex, real life experience in a way that will match your attention span. There’s so many layers to this experience and so many victims who have a perspective to add.
As a civil engineer listening to all the cost saving measures he did to the building made me audibly seethe in anger and pain. WHY would anyone do something like that the money saved is relatively small it's not even worth it!!!!
I'm so glad RUclips suggested your channel. You're such a great storyteller!
You are such a great story teller. I love the insight you share about Korea. Thank you.