hankyoreh

When the Japanese Colonial Government wanted to demolish Gwanghwamun in 1922, the Japanese folk-art activist Muneyoshi Yanagi lamented the decision with a heartfelt poem that moved the colonial authorities to save the structure. The reason the words of a Japanese man written 85 years ago are so affecting now is that Sungnyemun has burned to its stone base without anyone having had the chance to express the same kind of desperation.

We have long been proud of Sungnyemun, and told the world it was a symbol of Korean culture and refinement. In the meantime, however, we abandoned it easily, only to see it collapse in flames. Now we have been left to try to comfort ourselves in the face of the ghastly ruins. What will the world think of us, and how will we restore our burnt cultural pride?

The Sungnyemun catastrophe did not happen without warning. If it was because of an electrical leak, then lessons should have been learned from the destruction by fire of Guryong Temple in Wanju and of Naksan Temple in Yangyang. If it was arson, then something should have been done after part of the Suwon city walls - a UNESCO World Heritage Site - burned to its foundation, and when an arsonist attacked one of the buildings in Changgyeong Palace. However, we did nothing of the kind. All Sungnyemun had were eight small fire extinguishers. It did not have the sprinklers or fire alarm system that would not have been terribly difficult to install.

It was not just the fires at other cultural sites that should have given us warning. It was a year ago this past weekend that the fire in the Yeosu Foreigners’ Detention Center broke out. Forty lives were taken in a fire in Icheon early this year. The common cause of these fires was minor carelessness and inadequate prevention; the firefighting and fire management was shameful. Any major cultural site should have a manual detailing its internal structure and outlining what to do in the event of a fire. There was none for Sungnyemun, so firefighters were unable to figure out where the fire was coming from and ran around in confusion for five hours. The only thing the neighborhood government of Junggu ever did was entrust the security of the site to a private company. Everyone neglected it and was disinterested in its care.

Most unnerving at this point is the thought that the country’s other wooden cultural structures stand exposed to the possibility of fire. There are 124 major wooden sites of concern, according to a survey done after Naksan Temple burned to the ground in 2005, but so far only five of these have had fire prevention systems installed. Yesterday, the government again decided to formulate a disaster prevention plan for major cultural sites. National Treasure Number One has burned down, so will plans really be fulfilled this time around? If the government wants to win the country’s confidence it will need to keep those at fault strictly responsible.


Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]