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00:01A bustling department store in one of the largest cities in the world.
00:051,500 people are crowded inside.
00:09Suddenly, a huge shockwave erupts from the top floor.
00:17In less than 20 seconds, the entire store crashes to the ground.
00:22And all that remains is a massive pile of twisted steel and concrete.
00:27More than 500 people are dead.
00:32The tragedy stuns the nation and the public demands answers.
00:37Now, one man must find out what caused this catastrophe.
00:42What he discovers will shake an entire country to its foundation.
00:47Disasters don't just happen.
00:49They're triggered by a chain of critical events.
00:53Unravel the clues and count down those final seconds from disaster.
01:08South Korea.
01:10Seoul.
01:111995.
01:12It's a hot summer day in this booming capital city.
01:19In less than a decade, the country has transformed itself into one of the world's largest economies.
01:31The sudden wealth has led to a massive increase in construction.
01:35In Seoul, at least 10 high-rise buildings go up every week.
01:41But a shadow looms over this nation.
01:44Its neighbor, North Korea, lies just 25 miles from the capital.
01:50Close enough to put Seoul within range of artillery shells from one of the last surviving hardline communist countries.
01:57The relationship between the two has been violent for a long time.
02:04In 1983, North Korean militants detonated a bond, killing 17 South Korean officials.
02:16Four years later, the communists are accused of destroying a South Korean airliner in flight, killing 115.
02:24June 29th, 7 a.m.
02:30Seoul's 10 million residents start another busy day.
02:34Among them is 19-year-old Park Sang Hyun.
02:38Park's dream is to be a school teacher.
02:41So to pay for her tuition, she works as a shop assistant.
02:45This evening, Park plans to meet her best friend, So Hee Jin.
02:49The two women have known each other since they were four.
02:55Park was like a sister to me.
02:58She was very outgoing and very kind.
03:01We had planned to meet in a coffee shop after she finished work.
03:06Park works in the Sampung Superstore.
03:10One of the most exclusive retail outlets in South Korea.
03:13The building employs 1,000 staff and serves 40,000 customers every day.
03:22It turns over the equivalent of 4 million U.S. dollars a week and sells everything from the latest electronics to designer fashion.
03:31Built in the late 80s from reinforced concrete, the complex has four basement levels and five stories above ground.
03:38It stands on nearly four acres of real estate in the city's exclusive Kangnam district.
03:47The area was once a landfill site and the city's waste dump.
03:52Now it's one of Seoul's most affluent areas.
03:558.05 a.m.
04:01Young Cho Lee, the store's facility manager, starts his day.
04:08His first job is to investigate a note left on his desk by the nighttime security guard.
04:13In the early hours of the morning, the guard heard strange noises coming from the roof.
04:24The roof is cracked, but Lee knows that this was caused when air conditioning units were moved two years ago.
04:37Building safety is a major concern in South Korea.
04:40The country has recently been shocked by several tragedies.
04:45Two gas explosions and a bridge collapse have killed nearly 150 people.
04:51In all three cases, poor building practices were to blame.
04:55In the aftermath, the nation starts to question the price of their economic growth.
05:00So the state puts into place a series of rigorous inspections for all public buildings to restore confidence.
05:10Sanpung has just passed its regular safety inspection.
05:1310.02 a.m.
05:14Park is already busy at work in the children's clothing department.
05:24Over in the household section, Yujiwon is running late.
05:31This is her first job since leaving school.
05:38And like most teenagers, she'd much rather be doing something else.
05:43Being a sales assistant is boring.
05:48It's tiring standing for so many hours.
05:51Park and Yu work on the same floor, basement level one.
05:58Five stories above them, on the top floor, there are eight restaurants.
06:03One of these is the Cheonwon restaurant.
06:06It's popular for its traditional Korean dishes.
06:09Inside, facility manager Mr. Lee is dealing with another problem.
06:20A large crack has appeared around one of the columns.
06:24And the floor looks buckled at the base.
06:31Lee decides to close the restaurant.
06:33Construction signs are put up, and access to the area is blocked off.
06:44Gossip spreads quickly in Sanpung.
06:47So Lee cautions the restaurant's workers to say nothing.
06:51As midday approaches, the store gets busy.
06:55Then, customers on the fifth floor hear a disturbing sound.
06:59Once again, Mr. Lee goes to investigate.
07:09Down in basement level one, Yu starts to feel the building vibrate.
07:14Maybe I'm a bit foolish, but I didn't sense that anything was wrong.
07:3212.30 PM.
07:34Mr. Lee thinks that the air conditioning units may be causing the vibrations.
07:39So he turns off the air conditioning for the entire building.
07:42An announcement is made telling shoppers the air conditioning is under repair and will be turned off for the rest of the day.
07:53As the temperature reaches nearly 80 degrees Fahrenheit, shoppers start to complain.
07:59Customers are getting angry.
08:03Why doesn't a prestigious store like Sanpung have working air conditioning?
08:124 PM.
08:14Behind the scenes, facility manager Mr. Lee briefs the superstore's owner about the cracks in the restaurant,
08:20which have widened to four inches since the morning.
08:22Also present is Hawk Su Lee, the structural engineer.
08:30Su Lee built a complex, and he recommends closing the door for urgent repairs.
08:35The owner refuses.
08:38He's adamant that the stores stay open for shopping to continue.
08:44Beneath the restaurants on the fifth floor, workers are worried that something is seriously wrong.
08:53Facility manager Mr. Lee attempts to reassure the staff.
09:00But rumors that the building has a problem are spreading.
09:055.40 PM.
09:09A loud bang is heard from the top floor.
09:14This time, the ceiling shifts.
09:18Unknown to Park, you, and more than 1,500 other people, the building is on the verge of catastrophe.
09:27Shoppers and staff at the Sanpung department store have been hearing loud bangs coming from the top floor.
09:33Rumors are rife that the building is in trouble.
09:41It's 5.45 PM, and the complex is packed with shoppers.
09:48With no working air conditioning, Park Sang-hyun is suffering from the heat.
09:53The temperature has reached nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
09:57Household department assistant Yoo Ji-won is also overheating.
10:00She goes to the restroom.
10:06Washing my face and arms in cold water is all I can do to keep myself cool.
10:15Then, at 5.47 PM, another even louder bang roars out from the top floor.
10:22But five stories below, Yoo and her co-workers feel nothing.
10:28At 5.52 and 30 seconds, a massive shockwave rocks the entire building.
10:35Emergency alarms go off.
10:39On the upper floors, staff and customers panic and run for the exits.
10:46In the basement, Yoo Ji-won realizes something is seriously wrong.
10:52Suddenly, I hear a loud boom sound in the distance.
10:57The sound gets closer and closer.
11:11And now the building is shaking.
11:13The five-story superstore starts to crumble.
11:19Park and Yoo are engulfed in the mayhem.
11:23Park and Yoo are engulfed in the mayhem.
11:27In less than 20 seconds, the building crashes to the ground.
11:46As the dust settles, it becomes clear the entire superstore has collapsed.
12:00What was once a symbol of Seoul's economic prosperity is now just a massive pile of twisted steel and concrete.
12:08Smoke seeps from the wreckage, and 1,500 people are trapped.
12:15Within minutes, rescue teams, police and fire crews drag the dead and injured free of the wreckage.
12:23Television crews broadcast the tragedy live to the nation.
12:28South Korea has never witnessed a peacetime tragedy on this scale before.
12:34The death toll will be massive.
12:45The disaster site is a scene of utter chaos.
12:49Grief-stricken relatives and friends search for survivors.
12:54Among them is Park's lifelong friend, Soo Hee Jin.
12:59The two were supposed to meet this evening.
13:01I was shocked.
13:05So many injured and bleeding.
13:08The dead being carried away.
13:10So knows that her best friend must be somewhere in the rubble.
13:16I start scrambling at the rubble with my hands.
13:20I keep digging.
13:21I don't know why I'm doing it.
13:22I just need to do something.
13:24Almost 35 feet below So, underneath thousands of tons of debris, is all that's left of basement level one.
13:39There, in a space half the size of a telephone booth, lies Yoo Ji Won.
13:46She's badly injured, but incredibly still alive.
13:51Still alive.
13:56I can feel a hole in my head, so large my finger can go through it.
14:02That's how big it is.
14:04And I can feel something squiggly in a cut on my back, like my intestine.
14:09I don't want to die.
14:11The scale of the rescue operation is massive.
14:22One thousand rescue workers and volunteers desperately try to free bodies from the wreckage.
14:27By nightfall, more than 30 cranes and excavators are on site to speed up the rescue.
14:42They work through the night, carefully removing huge slabs of debris.
14:52By morning, more than 200 people are rescued.
14:57But 44 are dead, and more than 600 others are missing.
15:05Thousands of tons of concrete and steel hang dangerously over the site.
15:12Many bravely risk their lives to free victims.
15:20The north face of the building is tilting, and could fall at any moment.
15:27By the end of the second day, the danger is just too great, and officials are forced to abandon the search for survivors.
15:40More than 500 relatives take to the street, pleading with officials to resume the rescue.
15:45In the protests, fights break out with riot police.
15:55Calling off the search now would be a death sentence for you, and countless others trapped in the wreckage.
16:00A massive rescue effort stalls at the site where the San Pung Superstore once stood.
16:11Relatives demand that the search continue.
16:15By the morning of the third day, engineers stabilize the north wing with cables, and the rescue operation continues.
16:19For Yu Ji-Wan, trapped for over 72 hours, her chances of survival are dwindling.
16:30I think a lot about the short life I have had.
16:33I think a lot about the short life I have had.
16:36All of those close to me.
16:39My friends.
16:40And especially my mother.
16:48Relatives gather daily to identify the corpses pulled from the wreckage.
16:55Park Sang-hyun's friend So is there.
16:57She sees a photo that strikes fear in her heart.
17:04The picture shows a decapitated corpse.
17:07It is wearing the same ring Park hat on.
17:11I pray it's not her.
17:15But at the hospital, she discovers the ring is different.
17:20It's not her friends.
17:22It's so good when I realize it isn't Park.
17:28I know she could still be alive.
17:34On day four, the death toll reaches 107.
17:41And rescue workers know many more are missing.
17:47The rubble is constantly compressing, crushing those still trapped inside.
17:53The wall above you is now just inches from her face.
17:59By chance, she finds a knife beside her.
18:05I think about killing myself.
18:09I can't take the horror anymore.
18:10But then I realized that actually it's easy to become very selfish and not think of the effect it would have on the people I love.
18:26Day after day passes.
18:28And body after crushed body is found.
18:30Then after a full week, authorities decide there is little hope.
18:36Without water, a person can only survive for about three days in 85 degree heat.
18:44For relatives, the announcement is devastating.
18:48The rescue effort turns into a recovery operation.
18:55Heavy machinery moves in to clear the tons of rubble from the disaster site.
19:01Another five days go by and nearly 21,000 tons of wreckage has been cleared.
19:07Then, just after 3.30 in the afternoon, 12 days after the collapse, there's an astonishing discovery.
19:15Around where my foot was, suddenly, it just opened up.
19:23There was a hole.
19:26Yu Jiwon is found alive.
19:29And I can hear a voice asking, is there someone in there?
19:47Yu has survived in a space barely larger than her body.
19:50She has spent 285 hours trapped in searing heat, drinking rain water to stay alive.
20:01I can't really explain it, but it's just happiness.
20:07I feel like I'm flying.
20:10That I'm freed from everything.
20:12Everyone knows who I am, and even if I die now, everything I've worried about has been taken away.
20:25Yu is rushed to the hospital and put into intensive care.
20:30She has lost more than 10% of her body weight, but her injuries are relatively minor.
20:37In total, 937 people are seriously injured.
20:44502 have perished.
20:52Grief turns to anger.
20:55Why did a modern reinforced concrete building that stood for over six years collapse?
21:01What kind of catastrophe could raise it to the ground in less than 20 seconds?
21:06And who, if anyone, is to blame?
21:10Now, by rewinding the events of that day, and by going deep into the investigation,
21:17we can reveal exactly what caused the worst building collapse in South Korea's history.
21:22Within an hour of the disaster, the prosecution office orders a full-scale inquiry.
21:38And there's only one man for the job.
21:44Long Chong is the professor of civil and structural engineering at Dan Guk University.
21:50His knowledge of South Korea's construction industry is unsurpassed.
21:59But as Professor Chung arrives at the disaster site,
22:03even he isn't prepared for what he sees.
22:10It's impossible to describe what I feel.
22:13So many people are crushed in the rubble.
22:15It's a huge shock.
22:16Chung knows that to cause this level of destruction, something devastating must have happened.
22:26I've never seen a building collapse so completely.
22:30It's utter chaos.
22:34He resists the urge to jump to conclusions.
22:36But one theory seems fitting right away.
22:40Sampoon could be the latest gas-related disaster.
22:47In the last eight months, South Korea has been rocked by two massive explosions caused by leaking gas.
22:55The most recent was at Daegu Subway in Seoul.
22:58The blast killed over 100 people and injured 140.
23:04The scenes look all too familiar.
23:07I'm 80 to 90 percent sure a gas explosion is responsible for this disaster.
23:14Chung knows one thing will prove if gas is to blame.
23:18Fire.
23:20Gas explosions have a distinct signature.
23:24They almost always produce an inferno.
23:28But although parts of the building are ablaze, thick smoke isn't the evidence Chung needs.
23:34The fire is not from the blast, but from gasoline burning in the cars that have been crushed in the basement.
23:41Unable for now to prove the gas theory, Professor Chung considers a more sinister cause.
23:52A terrorist bomb.
23:55An explosion damaging the interior columns of the building could have caused this.
24:03North Korean militants are the obvious suspects.
24:12Two previous bombings have killed 136 innocent people.
24:17But a terrorist attack in the heart of the capital would be a horrifying new strategy.
24:25Investigator Long Chong is trying to determine if the disaster at the Sampung Superstore was caused by a terrorist bomb.
24:42It bears a striking resemblance to another shocking event in the U.S.
24:46On April 19th, 1995, just 10 weeks prior, a terrorist bomb blew up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
24:59168 people were murdered.
25:03Could the disaster at the Superstore be a similar case, where a bomb triggers a large-scale collapse?
25:09The two buildings were of similar construction.
25:13So was there anything to learn from the U.S. investigation?
25:17One of the first things I tried to do is imagine how the collapse progressed.
25:21How the building got from a state standing up, ordinary state, down to a pile of rubble on the ground.
25:27Glenn Bell has been a structural engineer for 30 years.
25:31He has investigated many high-profile building disasters, including the Oklahoma bombing.
25:37A bomb explosion has its own unique mark, a footprint that investigators call a debris field.
25:49In the Oklahoma City bombing, we see debris was blown out sideways from the face of the building from the explosion.
25:58The wreckage was thrown nearly 1,000 feet from the structure, forming a distinct pattern.
26:04But as Chung surveys the scene from Sampung, he notices one striking difference.
26:12The debris wasn't thrown outwards.
26:15The entire structure came straight down.
26:18The pattern of collapse and lack of other evidence rules out a terrorist bomb.
26:24For Chung, it's conclusive.
26:25An explosion would not have caused the building to collapse straight down in its entirety.
26:31The pattern of collapse also rules out a gas explosion.
26:36Now there's only one option left, and it could affect almost every large building in Seoul.
26:42Some kind of structural failure must have caused this disaster.
26:49There is so much damage that if it wasn't an explosion, there has to be something wrong with the design of the building, or a mistake in its construction.
26:58The pressure is on Chung to solve this mystery.
27:04In recent months, a bridge collapsed without warning, and now a superstore has suffered a similar fate.
27:11How many other thousands of buildings and millions of lives are in danger?
27:16Has the rush to build in this booming economy left a terrible legacy behind?
27:25Chung begins a process of elimination.
27:29Is poor design to blame?
27:34The drawings used to build a superstore should reveal all.
27:37The drawings show the superstore was built using a technique called flat slab construction.
27:55Flat slab construction is a common way to build multi-storey buildings.
28:00Concrete columns support the weight of each level,
28:02and steel bars are cast inside each one for extra reinforcement.
28:07More steel is used inside the floor slabs to strengthen them.
28:12So far, all is well.
28:17I can find nothing strange from the drawings to suggest that poor design caused this disaster.
28:23Although there's nothing wrong with the basic concept,
28:27the architect's original drawings are only half the picture.
28:30To actually build a structure, an engineer calculates the size of the columns and slabs required,
28:39then feeds this information back into the final design.
28:43Trained investigators know that this last phase is where mistakes can be made.
28:49As Chung compares the engineer's calculations with the architect's drawings,
28:54he finds a disturbing discrepancy.
28:56I notice the diameter of the columns is reduced on the drawings.
29:05When I see this, I immediately know that something's seriously wrong.
29:09The columns needed to be 80 centimeters in diameter.
29:14On the drawings, there are only 60.
29:23The question now is how was the building actually constructed?
29:27Could it be a mistake on the drawing board?
29:29The only way for Chung to find out for sure is to go back to the scene and measure the actual columns.
29:41At the disaster site, he confirms his worst fears.
29:44The diameter of the columns has been reduced to 60 centimeters.
29:53It's disturbing, but it's not the answer to the mystery.
29:57Standard engineering practice would have ensured that the building was safe.
30:01Every building is designed to have a safety tolerance.
30:06We build in a margin of safety to protect the structure,
30:10but more importantly, to protect the people from harm.
30:15Sam Poon was engineered to be two and a half times stronger than needed.
30:19Even though the mix-up over the column dimensions reduced this by half, there was still a healthy safety margin.
30:28There must be something else.
30:31Chung orders his investigation team back to the disaster site to look for more clues.
30:38There, they find another error.
30:41The reinforcing steel bars that strengthen the concrete floor slabs are in the wrong place.
30:46They should be 5 centimeters from the top of the slab, but they're 10 centimeters.
30:53This tiny detail is of crucial importance.
30:57The repositioning of the steel by about 5 centimeters may not sound like very much to the layperson,
31:03but it's critical because the effect of lowering the steel is very much like making the slab thinner.
31:10This mistake weakens the slab by 20% at the most vital part of the building.
31:16The point where the floors connect to the columns and the stress is transferred to the ground.
31:22It's still not enough to cause collapse, but the errors are adding up.
31:27They point to a systematic disregard for building regulations.
31:30Chung directs the suspicion toward Sampung's managers, who all survived the collapse.
31:44South Korean law enables the prosecutor's office to arrest the owner, chief architect, CEO, and facilities executive under suspicion of professional negligence.
31:55Then, Professor Chung interrogates them.
32:02Talking to these witnesses was very important. I needed to understand the history of the complex.
32:12Chung discovers that the superstore was originally designed to have only 4 floors above ground.
32:21But halfway through construction, management decided they needed a fifth level for more space.
32:29The construction company refused, saying the structure wouldn't support another floor.
32:35The contractors were fired.
32:37Then, management hired its own in-house construction company to finish the job.
32:44A prime example of how cultural pressures in Seoul's booming economy take precedent over all other considerations.
32:52Next, Chung calls in the building's facility manager, Mr. Lee.
32:57He explains that the controversial fifth floor was originally conceived as a roller skating rink.
33:04But late in construction, management changed their minds again and wanted the floor to contain eight restaurants.
33:12In Korea, diners traditionally sit on the floor, so restaurants installed floor heating.
33:24To fit this heating, the floor must be thickened, which adds to its weight.
33:29As soon as I knew the roller skating rink had been changed to a restaurant floor, I knew that the building was in trouble.
33:36Installing the floor heat must have put even more stress on the vital connections on the fifth floor.
33:45Mr. Lee confirms that they were under enormous stress.
33:51He had seen the cracks with his own eyes and had photos taken.
33:55Mr. Lee tells me about a problem on the morning of the collapse.
33:59A pillar in one of the restaurants had a crack around the base of it, the size of a man's fist.
34:09By checking the plans, Chung places the cracks at column 5E in the Chung 1 restaurant.
34:17He can tell the slab has completely separated from the pillar, with only the reinforcing steel holding it together.
34:25He's getting closer, but even this isn't enough to explain the disaster that claimed so many lives.
34:34There is one factor that Chung can't ignore.
34:38The building stood for a full six years.
34:42Hundreds of thousands of people came and went, shopped and dined, in its nearly eight acres of retail floor space.
34:49Something must have happened after the building was completed.
34:54Something that pushed it over the edge.
34:58There always exists a critical point. If you go beyond that point, the building collapses.
35:06Chung's team scrutinizes the building's history.
35:10It's painstaking work, but even the slightest anomaly counts.
35:17Finally, Chung gets a lead.
35:21Two years before the collapse, three large air conditioning units on the roof were moved because neighbors on the east side complained that they were too noisy.
35:30This could be the link Chung's looking for.
35:40He interviews facility manager Mr. Lee again.
35:45The facility manager confirms the air conditioning towers were moved.
35:50He has photographs showing this.
35:51The photographs reveal cracks on the roof, but it's how the units were moved that grabs Professor Chung's attention.
36:01Mr. Lee tells me that the air conditioning units had been dragged across the roof.
36:06This is very worrying.
36:10This latest detail provides the key to exactly how the building collapsed.
36:14As a direct result, Professor Chung's investigation will call into question the safety of almost every building in South Korea.
36:26Investigator Lan Chung is on the verge of solving what caused the disaster at the Sampung department store.
36:34Two years before the collapse, three large air conditioning units were dragged across the roof.
36:40A terrible mistake that made the entire roof unstable.
36:48What's more, their weight, 15 tons each, overstressed the main supports.
36:55Column 5E seems to have been affected the most.
37:01But Chung still doesn't know what triggered the collapse on June 29th.
37:06The trigger is the final explanation of what happened.
37:09And it's most important in that it explains why the failure occurred when it did.
37:17One piece of evidence remains unresolved.
37:21Survivors reported that the department store was vibrating on the day it collapsed.
37:27Chung thinks he finally has the answer.
37:29During the course of two years, every time the air conditioning unit is turned on, it sends vibrations across the unstable roof and ricochets down to the fifth floor.
37:42Over time, the crack gets wider around column 5E until it hits breaking point.
37:47The cracked slab in the Chanhwan restaurant can hold no more. It starts to crumble.
37:53That's where it started. That's where the crack got bigger and set off the progressive collapse.
38:03Now, by rewinding the events leading up to that fateful day, and by following the evidence uncovered during the extensive investigation, we can finally reveal how the Sanpung Superstore collapsed.
38:201993, two years before collapse, the Superstore's three air conditioning units are repositioned, put on rollers, and dragged across the roof.
38:34Cracks form in the roof slabs, and the main support columns are forced downward.
38:41Column 5E takes a direct hit, and cracks appear where the column meets the fifth floor.
38:49June 29, 1995. Less than eight hours to disaster.
38:55Facility manager Mr. Lee is called to the Chanhwan restaurant to examine a large crack in the floor.
39:04Unknown to Mr. Lee, vibrations from the air conditioning units are radiating across the cracked roof and down through column 5E to where it connects to the fifth floor slab.
39:17The fracture in the Chanhwan restaurant opens up.
39:21Five hours to disaster, and the first of several large bangs erupts from the fifth floor.
39:27The vibrations from the air conditioning units force the crack to widen even further.
39:38After reports that the entire building is vibrating, Mr. Lee turns off the air conditioning.
39:43But it's too late. The crack in the Chanhwan restaurant has grown to 10 centimeters.
39:5252 minutes to disaster.
39:55Sam Pung is packed with shoppers.
39:5820 seconds before disaster, a massive boom sends shockwaves through the building.
40:07Panicked shoppers run for their lives.
40:11The fifth floor slab around column 5E finally gives way.
40:16In less than 20 seconds, the building crashes to the ground, trapping more than 1,500 people.
40:3316 days after the collapse, the disaster site is nearly cleared.
40:37323 corpses have been recovered.
40:42But amazingly, beneath the rubble, one person is still alive.
40:47It's 19-year-old children's department assistant Park Sang-hyun.
40:54I hear loud machinery above my head, and I think, this is it. I'm going to die.
41:02I start banging with all my might. The machines stop, and I hear a voice call out.
41:10Is anybody down there?
41:12Park has been trapped for 377 hours in complete darkness.
41:19Incredibly, apart from a few scratches, she is unscathed.
41:23All I could think is now, I am saved. I am going to live.
41:34TV crews broadcast the event to a stunned nation.
41:42But no one is more shocked than Sohee Jin.
41:45It was incredible. Incredible.
41:57Even though everyone around me told me she was dead, only I kept on believing until the end.
42:04I couldn't stop crying.
42:06Park is rushed to the hospital, her eyes covered to protect them from the light they haven't seen for so long.
42:17Her best friend Soh helps nurse her back to health in the hospital.
42:22Although I suffered, I just think I am very lucky to have survived.
42:37After weeks of recovery, Park finally goes home.
42:40I feel so bad that Soh suffered so much. I really love her.
42:55Professor Chung's investigation blamed the collapse on human ignorance, negligence, and greed.
43:02On December 27th, 1995, after months of public demonstrations, Jun Lee, the owner of Sampung, was jailed for ten and a half years after being found guilty of criminal negligence.
43:17His son, the CEO, was jailed for seven years for corruption and accidental homicide.
43:23It is totally unacceptable that the Sampung department store collapsed.
43:32It was so unfortunate that so many mistakes were made in one building.
43:40Even if just one of the people involved had not made one of the mistakes, this disaster would never have happened.
43:47The final verdict had an enormous and lasting impact.
43:56Following further investigations, widespread corruption and fraud were discovered at Sampung.
44:0321 others were found guilty, including 12 city officials.
44:08In the aftermath, rigorous government building inspections took place across the entire country.
44:14What they uncovered was beyond belief.
44:18One out of every seven high-rise structures needed rebuilding.
44:23And four out of five needed major repair work.
44:27In all, 98% of South Korea's buildings were affected.
44:32And just one in 50 was deemed safe.
44:39If there's one thing I take away from this,
44:41it's that if you build a building,
44:44build it for your family or those you love,
44:48with that mindset this disaster would never have happened.
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