The destruction of the 600+ year-old Southern Gate of Seoul, South Korea has shocked the nation and saddened its people (+ people like me too). The No.1 heritage site for the country, Sungnyemun aka Namdaemun survived foreign invasions and wars but went down in flames and police believe arson is the main culprit. Police have arrested a 70-year-old suspect believed to have had a hand in this. Restoration works are said to take up to three years and will be based on measurements did in 2006. But if you ask me, nothing will ever replace the wood turned to ash from the oldest wooden structure in South Korea.
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More detailed coverage from a news article:
Namdaemun, made of wood and stone with a two-tiered, pagoda-shaped tiled roof, was completed in 1398 and served as the main southern entrance to Seoul, which was then a walled city. It was the oldest wooden structure in the country, an iconic reminder of old Korea in this modern Asian city, the capital of South Korea, and a major tourist attraction. The site is surrounded by a bustling commercial district. Lately, homeless people had sought shelter there.
The gate survived the Chinese and Japanese invasions that devastated the city. It was repaired several times, most recently after the Korean War of 1950 to 1953. When the South Korean government cataloged its national treasures in 1962, it gave the gate the No. 1 ranking.
Some historians opposed that designation because Japanese invasion forces had passed through it in the late 16th century to destroy Seoul.
The fire was first reported Sunday evening. By late Sunday night, firefighters said they believed that they had contained it. But the fire roared out of control again after midnight and finally destroyed the structure, despite the efforts of more than 360 firefighters.
Cheon Ho-seon, a spokesman for President Roh Moo-hyun, called the loss “an utterly unfortunate and unspeakably deplorable incident.”
“The gate has been our representative cultural asset that has been with us for 600 years,” Mr. Cheon said in a regular news briefing. “All Koreans were shocked and hurt when they saw the gate crumbling in flames.”
The Yonhap report said that the physical appearance and clothing of the man arrested matched those of a person witnesses said climbed the stairs of the gate shortly before the fire started. The police found a backpack and an aluminum ladder at Mr. Chae’s house that witnesses said the man they saw was carrying at the scene. The report quoted the police as saying that Mr. Chae was one of several suspects. Yonhap said the man had been charged in 2006 with setting another fire in Seoul, but it was unclear what the outcome of that case was.
The Cultural Heritage Administration said it would take three years and $21 million to rebuild the structure.
Namdaemun succumbed to the very thing it was designed to fight off, according to Korean legend: fire. Korean kings chose the site in the belief that the gate would protect the capital from the fiery spirit of a mountain south of Seoul, historians say.
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Me and the land of BoA + kimchi quietly mourn the loss of this beautiful site. I was actually going to visit there one day... This is a crime I tell you... a sinister crime... how can someone do such an unspeakable act?
:(
PEACE and God Bless,
Aris
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