Posted on 02/10/2008 7:37:53 PM PST by nuconvert
Fire destroys South Korean landmark
By KWANG-TAE KIM,
Associated Press
An overnight fire destroyed a 610-year-old landmark that was considered the top national treasure, officials said Monday. Police said the cause of the blaze was unclear but one official said arson was suspected.
The fire broke out Sunday night and burned down the wooden structure at the top of the Namdaemun gate that once formed part of a wall that encircled the capital.
Some 360 firefighters fought to bring the blaze under control, according to Lee Sang-joon, an official with the National Emergency Management Agency. No one was injured, he said.
Lee said that arson was suspected in the blaze. However, Kim Young-soo, the head of a police station in central Seoul handling the case, told a televised news conference said it was too early to make that conclusion.
The South Korean government opened the landmark gate, officially named Sungnyemun, to public in 2006 for first time in nearly a century.
The gate had been off-limits to the public since Japanese colonial authorities built an electric tramway nearby in 1907. Japan ruled the Korean Peninsula in 1910-45.
The gate was renovated in the 1960s and again in 2005.
Saved me from sayin it.
You might be interested in this.
It’s a shame.
What a terrible loss.
http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=102&oid=001&aid=0001953976
Boy, am I shocked to find out later that it is the most important heritage site in Seoul? Right in the middle of the city.
After the Korean War (50 years ago)
80 years ago
100 years ago
120 years ago
Thanks for the photos.
What a shame.
I hope that means that there are good blueprints and photo documentation on hand, so it can be rebuilt.
What a marvelous treasure -- and what a terrible loss -- to all cultures! :-(
I suspect it was the center wing fuel tank that spontaneously ignited this South Gate.
I wouldn't want to be a beggar found near this place after this incident. The protocol I remember for investigations in South Korea involved rounding up all of the nearby "street people" taking them into the questioning rooms and beating them with billy-clubs until somebody confessed. a lot of bones got broken during questioning and the interrogation rooms usually had bloodstains on the walls left there to encourage people to tell all they know quickly.
Just a hunch.
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
There was an article in Scientific American on this type of design about 25 years ago.
Taking bets, whether the South Koreans have this completely rebuilt, before we have ground zero rebuilt...
(yes, I’m frustrated)
(yes, I'm pissed!)
Such a shame. I hate to see beautiful historical sites lost.
Mongols back?
But the South Korean people aren’t going to be arguing over the redesign. If SK rebuilds it, they will build it to resemble its original glory.
Maybe a NK saboteur?!
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Thanks ConservativeMind. It's astonishing that it hadn't been set fire to during the Korean War. As you said, this is a shame. |
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How many mohamedans are in Korea? This is what they do...for 1300 + years
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