Korea’s Death Mall - 502 Dead & 40 Missing Inside High End Department Store

[Music]. bada bing badao Mino is shuffling. through the children's clothing racks. and she feels this little tug on her. skirt and she's asking her son okay yeah. what is it sweetie do you need something. there's no response so Mina pulls her. eyes away from the clothes and she looks. at her son he's like 6 years old at this. point and his eyes are bulging out of. his head he looks petrified and she's. like what's wrong and this little kid. he's Korean he says oh we've got to go. home right now.

why what's wrong do you have to go potty. like I'll I'll be done in 10 minutes can. you hold it no the adashi said that we. need to leave right now Mina looks. around there's definitely nobody near. them and there's definitely not a. middle-aged man all of the employees at. this children's clothing store they're. young woman so she's confused what aashi. are you talking about like I just need. to grab a few more things and aesi is a. old man old middle-aged man yeah and he.

looks up at her again and says that. aashi right there told me to leave and. he's pointing into the air Mina looks. and there is nobody she says are you. sure you saw an aashi what did he look. like he keeps saying he was bleeding he. keeps trying to hug the nice cashier. lady Mina didn't leave because she's in. this very fancy luxury shopping mall and. maybe kids just make up some things. maybe he wanted to go go to a toy store.

instead maybe he was bored maybe he. wanted to go home and watch TV it just. didn't make any sense why there would be. a bleeding man in the middle of this. store I mean this mall is known for you. walk in very normal to see coats going. for $1,000 a coat table tea sets going. for $8,000. $9,000 people dressed up to go shopping. at this establishment there certainly. weren't any middle-aged bleeding aosi. trying to hug cat years it's just not.

that type of place but these were the. rumors that would float around Korea. even to this day children dragging their. parents out of this mall talking about. how they saw a bloody man telling them. to get out how they saw bloody people. climbing onto workers backs trying to. almost get on their back like a. piggyback ride there were rumors that. children were being warned to stay away. from this m because very soon over 502.

people would be dead and 30 people would. go missing inside of these very. [Music]. walls as always always full show notes.

are available at Rotten mango. podcast.com this is another Korean case. we had multiple Korean researchers. assist in gathering of the facts on this. one but as always please let us know if. there's anything that we didn't cover or. something that got Lost in. Translation I mean it's a huge case so. I'm sure it's bound that we're going to. have things that we didn't touch up on. but just let us know in the comments so. with that being said let's get into it. June 29th in South Korea is almost Peak. summertime I mean almost every single.

person that walked into this hung Mall. said the same thing that day wied all. which is why is it so hot like why is it. so hot a lot of people were coming to. the mall to avoid the heat outside and. usually these massive indoor malls they. blast the AC during the summer you walk. in you feel that ice cold air smack you. on the way in not today the mall was. more humid more hot clammy it was so hot. it was difficult to breathe inside of. the allall it's like the AC was broken.

the workers are profusely sweating. apologizing to the customers sorry the. AC is broken I'm sure it's going to turn. back on any second now and despite all. the heat about a thousand people were. inside that mall when the whole thing. came crumbling down everyone had 20. seconds to get out of that mall that's. all they got 20 seconds is the length of. the Happy Birthday song in Korean if you. had 20 seconds to do you think you could.

go from inside of the changing room. inside of a store get out of the store. down the hall to the emergency staircase. down the stairs to the ground floor. let's say you're four stories high three. stories fine right and at least a few. more steps further to avoid impact could. you do that in 20 seconds so Pongo he. was a maget at his job which means he. was the youngest in amongst all of his. co-workers which is why all the. colleagues kind of like took it easy on. him when he was pouting and whining the. whole day he's like it's not fair we.

work at the restaurant on the fifth. floor the AC is broken all the other. restaurants on this floor are closed why. are we open why are we the only one on. top of that I mean do customers really. want to eat right now it's so hot so the. AC just broke that day yeah all day it. had been off okay so it's not like. ongoing it's just it's okay that one day. so he's in the front keeping himself. busy when the head chef runs out from. the kitchen get out get out get out P's.

like okay I'm not even going to look up. he just casually says okay give me a. second like I just need to finish this. up the chef runs to Pongo pushes him on. the back and says you idiot I said run. and he looks up and he sees people. booking it like all the there's like. five customers they're booking it to the. emergency stairwell so he starts jumping. over chairs jumping over tables trying. to join them at that staircase he has no. idea what's going on he just knows that. they're all running.

and as he's running one by one the. lights the recess Lighting in the. ceiling they're. shattering and it's getting darker and. darker and Pongo would have 20 seconds. to make it out of life tan let's call. her Gia was another employee at the mall. she worked in the basement level so she. sold um Crystals at one of those like. HomeGoods shops and that day she took. her break early cuz it was so hot I mean. she felt like all day if she even moved. fast if she even thought fast she would.

break out into a full-blown sweat so she. tried to move slowly Reserve this energy. she had to fight every intrusive thought. that she had to not just walk out of. that store quit and never look back. that's how hot it was she takes her. break early and as she's walking back. into the store the manager onne which is. like an older sister right starts. running towards her screaming turn. around run run the last thing Gia. remembers were these little broken. shards of chis flying at her and she.

didn't understand what was happening. just that all the crystals in the shop. looked like they had. exploded Gia would have 20 seconds to. make it out. alive 19-year-old let's call her. Sarah Sarah had just graduated from high. school and now she's working at one of. these high-end children's clothing shops. basement level of the mall she wasn't. even supposed to be working that day her. colleague called her and was like Hey. can you switch shifts with me so she did.

she was coming back from her lunch break. when she felt something really strange. there was a cold wind it felt really. nice because she had been sweating in. this hot humid dank basement floor all. day without the AC but did you just. catch on well yeah why is there a CO in. right exactly she works on level B1 the. basement floor there's no exterior doors. that could be opened to let in a breeze. it was a strong Breeze too and the AC. wasn't back on.

Sarah would have 20 seconds to make it. out alive there is a man 21 um his name. is Chong but we're going to call him. Michael he actually started working at. the Shoe Store in this hung department. store he was studying architecture but. he just needed to make some extra money. on the side and he was on his shift when. everything went dark he didn't even have. 20 seconds to run nothing registered in. him it was just lights out literally. figuratively when he woke back back up.

everything was Pitch Black he was laying. on cold concrete he's basically Boxed In. by concrete he couldn't move on the. sides of him there was concrete above. him there was concrete below him. concrete he just had to lay there in a. fetal position having no idea what had. just happened there was no light no food. no water he tried to kind of push up. against the jagged concrete but he was. worried that any sort of movement would. cause the concrete to completely crush. him even the Air Supply felt stale Dusty.

and. limited the Panic starts to kick in he's. like getting claustrophobia and in any. other situation I think that this would. have been terrifying but he started. hearing a woman. screams and she's screaming save me save. me he said that he felt kind of happy. that he wasn't alone in the dark so he. started screaming back hello there were. now two voices responding back at him so. one was was Ean a 25-year-old woman that.

worked in the kitchen wear shop also on. the first basement floor and an AI so. that's like an older Auntie customer so. these are a lot of like basement workers. right yes is it because there's a higher. chance of. survival go everyone on Floors 1 through. five unless they were in um unless they. were out of the building they would die. so they were all trapped just like. Michael. the aimy um the woman they're all.

trapped the aimy could barely talk. because she was actively being squashed. by the concrete like on her chest is the. customer an older woman yeah I would say. maybe like 50 60s and she told them in. all these gas breaths like there's a. heavy piece of concrete on my chest I. can't talk so the two Michael and the. other kitchen shop worker they tried to. help her not panic so that she's not. going to hyperventilate cuz there's no.

way for to for her to even like take in. a big breath of. air so in small breaths in very kind of. like she's drowning she tells the others. my daughter turned 30 this. year and there was just this lingering. silence cuz it's it's a reminder of. everything that was outside and they. don't know what to say to. that so they fall silent Michael feels. these tears coming down the sides of his.

face and he says then let's Get Out. Alive and the three promised each other. okay us three we're going to get out of. life and then everything went black. again Michael and the others they kept. falling asleep coming to falling asleep. passing out I wonder if it's the Air. Supply that was cutting them off it was. hard to even gauge how long they had. been in there Michael asked the others. hello how long have we been in. here the 25-year-old worker responded.

but her voice sounded really weak I. think a day maybe two I don't know it. feels like a. week aimone are you. okay. silence and then they started panicking. aimy you have to wake up you got to wake. up your daughter just turned. 30 Michael would never hear her voice. again she was gone and she would never. get to see her daughter turned.

31 not long after the 25-year-old. kitchen worker called out for Michael. and said. Michael. yeah I think I'm going to go. now please tell my family I love. them Michael said that after that the. fear of death had never been so strong. like he could almost taste it it gripped. his entire being he said it's very hard. to explain he had never felt anything. like that he was all alone the two.

others that had quote survived they were. now dead he felt like it was only a. matter of time until he died but it's a. slow agonizing weight he started feeling. delusional from the anxiety the hunger. and then all of a sudden he just felt so. thirsty he didn't even feel scared. anymore it was all he could think about. was water thirst it's like he was going. crazy right at that time someone. answered his prayers while he was. feeling delirious Water started dripping.

onto his head he didn't even know if he. was dreaming he genuinely thought am I. hallucinating like you know when you see. the Lakes at the desert and you keep. walking towards it he thought it was. that but he scooted so that the water. would drip directly into his mouth. instead of his forehead and he started. drinking the disgusting water that was. Dripping into his. mouth he felt around with his hands in. the dark and there were these few pieces. of like Dusty I don't even want to call. it like paper more like cardboard boxes.

and he grabbed them wet them in the. water and he slowly laid there ripping. it shoving it in his mouth chewing and. eating it he was so desperate to just. fill his stomach with anything that acid. was just killing him now side note the. water that he's drinking and that he's. wetting this paper with it's not fresh. water or even tap water it has been. through layers of concrete dust rust and.

that's if there's no dead bodies on top. of him it was very risky water but he. had no choice and that is what he would. do for the next 11 days that's almost. two full weeks in silence alone in the. dark eating Rusty wet paper it was dead. silent for Michael he had no idea that. on the other side of of all these layers.

and layers of concrete and Twisted Metal. there were thousands of people trying to. save him all hell had just broken loose. this was happening on a random Tuesday. afternoon there were commuters office. workers families driving near the mall. outw walking on the streets they hear. this crazy almost deafening noise they. look to their left I mean some of them. it's their right and this entire. shopping mall one of the most iconic. buildings at the time cuz it's like this. salmon pink color everyone knew that s. mall right.

pancakes this mall that was 10 20. stories tall now look like a one-story. building. pancaked a pile of rubble it wasn't even. like an avalanche where you know which I. know those things happen very quickly. but you know you watch those videos and. you see things are slowly falling and. you can't stop it but it it comes closer. and closer this was one second the. building is standing up tall totally. fine the next second it's on the ground. all you see our Scot.

the first thing on everyone's mind was. North. Korea we are under attack this is a. full-blown War North Korea is attacking. us so a lot of people are running away. from the building because they don't. know is North Korea going to attack. another building but a lot of people. were running towards the. building to try and help anyone they. could and it was like a group of zombies. were seen walking out of the mall their. faces their hair their whole body was. was white like powder white some of them.

had even patches of bright red blood on. them but the rest of their bodies powder. white even their eyelashes were white. it's like someone threw bags of flour at. them there was so much sand Rubble. cement particles in the air that anyone. within an 80 ft radius from the mall was. covered in white. powder wow at this point breaking news. is playing on every single TV station. News Network s department store has just. collapsed there estimated 1,000 people.

inside at the time of the claps as of. right now investigators do not know the. cause of the attack there is speculation. that this could be the work of a. terrorist attack by North. Korea hundreds of ambulances fire trucks. they rushed the scene about 4,000. official Personnel so I mean you're. talking firefighters police soldiers. they start arriving at the scene they. bring in helicopter cranes heavy. machinery and the whole situation was so. tricky there's two main issues that The. Rescuers are confronted with so the.

first being that the left and right. edges of this building have not. collapsed it's like someone cut out just. two edges of a cake and then squash the. middle H but the sides are standing and. now they're starting to kind of tip each. way so they're going to fall and hit. some people is is that yeah so if you're. standing in the middle of this Rubble. trying to dig out people this Falls I. mean people are going to die oh and they. can't even can they even knock it down.

no because that will fall on yeah more. people more people so at any moment it's. at the risk of collapsing I mean it's. like a domino waiting to topple over it. looks like a strong gust of wind could. take it. down it's dangerous and the second. problem was even though that we have all. of this heavy machinery right we've got. the helicopter Fork cranes none of it. could be. used the experienced Rescuers they point. out if we use this equipment and we're. you're not precise if there's someone.

underneath a piece of concrete the. machine could easily squash them or. let's say we're trying to pick up that. concrete we could literally rip someone. in half with a crane we could literally. rip their head. off have you ever played Pickup Sticks. you know you get the same size sticks. you throw them and then you have to take. each stick out without moving the other. ones that's what this was a game of and. the stakes were really high The Rescuer. said I mean people are going to die if.

we don't do this right so the only way. to save people was to use light. machinery and go by hand and just pray. that the edges of the building would not. collapse in on them so originally the. morale amongst Rescuers was very very. high I mean it would be a miracle if. anyone survived but they at least had to. try but once they got to work they said. you know they noticed so many mannequin. parts that were under the rubble so. looking from afar on the street they. could see like arms legs and torsos just. peeking out from the rubble and it's.

unsettling but it's like it's to be. expected it's a shopping mall but once. they lifted layers of. concrete it was a manquin they were. people the night before Michael was. trapped security guard Ian was alone. doing his rounds and he wasn't nervous. you know there's cameras everywhere big. massive Gates that are closed at night. nobody ever tries to break into one of. the top department stores in s but still. it's it's 3:00 a.m. and the empty.

building is kind of creepy all the. mannequins are practically glowing under. the dim lights he has to walk from each. floor to each floor and like the echo of. his footsteps that's the creepiest part. every step it sounds like someone is. walking behind it and he's walking. through this newly renovated hallway. when he hears like this groan it sounds. like one of those fantasy movies where. they have like Monsters or dragons that. are groaning or hissing and. freees okay there's no alarm sounding so.

you can't be a robber and that's not. even like a human noise it sounded like. it was coming from the top floor so he. speed runs all the way up to the fifth. floor and so earlier I said the building. is 10 to 20 stories high right it's 10. to 20 apartment stories high but because. it's one of those fancy department. stores it's only five levels above. ground but each level you're talking. like crazy like 30 foot ceilings so. double the regular yes double rle so. he's running up to the fifth floor and.

he looks up he sees all these. restaurants that are closed and at first. glance everything seems normal there's. no one hiding there's no shadowy figures. anything like that and then he sees the. Moonlight reflecting off the glass of. the restaurant but not just even the. Moonlight he sees the moon reflecting. off he's like that is so weird and he. looks up there is a giant table-sized. hole in the ceiling it looked like. someone or something had taken a bite.

out of the. ceiling this is the night before the. collapse now if you ask any Korean. person if you had a time machine what. would you do what the first thing that. you do with the time machine an. overwhelming majority of them would. answer I would go and buy up all the. land and Kung. them yeah so 50 years ago if you. purchase land in the city of kangnam. which is like the Beverly Hills the. Upper East Side of South Korea you would. be part of South Korea's Ultra Elite.

today but how would you even know to do. that 50 years ago kangnam was not a fun. glamorous place it was kind of more of a. dangerous place kangnam is south of the. Han River and and back then the rich. people only lived above the river they. never lived below anything below was. considered not that classy but somehow. somehow this businessman by the name of. Lee Chun this influential Rich. businessman he worked in the South. Korean government he had ties to the.

American CIA he owned a massive. construction company and he focused on. doubling his business every year which. is insane to double your business every. year that's crazy he mainly did this by. buying up land and underdeveloped not so. desirable areas like kangam and turning. it into what it is today and side note. he's not that smart he's not a real. estate Whisperer he was a high up. government employee and he would get. word that the government wants to. develop kangnam or this area and. he would just go in and buy a ton of.

land most of the time he would just flip. it and sell it back to the government at. an inflated price but he was going in. when kungum Real Estate was selling for. less than $6 a square foot now it's. about $1,000 a square foot I did some. math that means if you bought an. apartment that's about 1,500 ft that. would have been about. $10,000 today that same land that same. piece of land $1.5. million so Lee with his Insider. information he bought over 2 million.

square F feet in kungum back when it was. dirt cheap but he's like you know what. why would I sell this land back I should. develop it I should do something there's. new fancy schools coming into kungum. like some colleges are coming in we got. some private schools coming in we got. all these so um kangam is kind of known. as like the new money area the old money. Koreans actually still live above the. river they say in kangnam you've got all. like the lawyers doctors like the. professionals moving in so he's like I.

need to make a department store cuz what. do new money residents like they like. labels they want to show people they. have money so back in the day you know. Korean stores you go there it's. utilitarian you go and you buy what you. need I'm going to make it super. aesthetic I want it to be a ones shop. stop I want them to come it's a social. event they eat dinner there's fancy. restaurants there's a fancy Supermarket. I want everything in there so he gets.

this construction company called usang. construction apparently they're actually. really good they've got a very clean. reputation or relatively clean a lot of. people vouch for their durability like. right now if you see new apartments it. might even say like wung constructed. because people really like it so Lee. tells usong I want a four-story. commercial building they're like okay. they start drawing out the plans they. start building the building and halfway. through they've got the main Foundation. up Lee walks into their office sits down.

you know what let's add another floor. make it five better number right four is. a bad number five five is good usong is. looking at him like are you dumb you. cannot just add another floor that's not. how it works if you want another floor. we have to start over we have to. bulldoze everything down and start over. if you add another floor without. altering the current plans the building. would have way too much weight and. stress on the foundation and it's not. it's to be. compromised so Lee gets up and says okay.

well then you're. fired he goes and he hires a new. construction team one that has a very. hard time saying no to him his own. construction team he acts like he is the. construction engineer the architect if. you say no to him you're fired and. potentially blacklisted from the. industry and so they made his Ultimate. Dream Come True his team built this hun. department store it would be the second. biggest department store in the nation. at the time and it would bring in insane.

amounts of money the first year they. were open they were projected due to. about 150 million in Revenue that's. calculated with inflation the second. year they doubled 300 million a year in. Revenue s department store was built. with the intention that you don't have. to go anywhere else okay everything's in. these two buildings so there's building. a and Building B and they're connected. on each floor by these long hallways but. the hallways are not the width of. Building A and B so it looks like you.

know kind of a from an aerial view it. looks like two squares with a short line. in between like a short stick connecting. them now you don't ever have to leave. the building to get to the other one but. it's interesting building a was the mall. the fifth floor would have all these. fancy sitdown restaurants you can meet. up with your friends before you go. shopping and then the fourth floor. luxury household goods fancy wine. glasses third floor men's clothing. second floor women's clothing first. floor foreign in orted goods and. cosmetics now there are four basement.

levels B2 through B4 they're more for. like storage machine rooms parking. spaces and B1 is kind of open to the. public it's a mall so a lot of Korean. malls they have um supermarkets on the. basement level so you literally run all. your errands this is kind of Genius they. also have cheaper food courts in the. basement so more like food stands so B1. is open to the public and there's always. a lot of customers and workers shuffling. in and out of that floor now Building B.

is more commercial real estate so you. got Office Buildings you have a gym but. that's about it not a lot of foot. traffic not a lot of Aesthetics it looks. like just your office Plaza okay so. what's so wrong about it here's what's. wrong about it the escalators most. buildings and I never noticed this until. I was researching this but there's. usually two escalators per floor mhm and. like two going up two going down. especially big malls and I always. thought Okay so it's more people can go. up and down the escalators manage the.

traffic right and I'm sure that plays a. role but a big reasoning behind it is. apparently having two escalators going. up and down on either side helps. distribute the weight better okay okay. well it's a thing okay apparently having. two escalators on a floor helps. distribute the weight making it safer. and Lee said actually no that's so. expensive I just need one so he kept. putting just one escalator on each floor. in massive buildings especially. commercial buildings there are the. giant rods in the middle of the open.

space they're loadbearing columns. they're there to hold weight so if you. walk in to your local mall you're going. to see these giant round columns it's. drywalled it looks pretty but you're. like oh why is this here it's blocking. my view it's to hold weight like there's. no way that you can have this massive. room and just have four walls well the. original plan was to have 31in thick. columns it's about 2 and 1/2 ft thick. and inside you can't see it because it's. covered in drywall but there's supposed. to be 16 steel rods supporting the.

weight MH Lee said let's make the. Collins less than two feet thick because. I don't like big columns I want to be. able to see the merchandise and why do. we need 16 steel rods let's do. eight this is a huge deal the steel rods. are what's holding up the weight above. it people take lack of steel rods so. seriously recently in Korea a apartment. building company they put in less steel. rods than they were supposed to they. were exposed for it and now that. building is called boneless chicken. apartment building yeah there's still a.

building. yeah wow so I think it's up to code but. it's not as good or as much as other. builders do so they're called boneless. chicken apartment building because why. are you not like steel rods seriously. Lee said that he hated the idea of thick. column so let's cut it down but that's. not the only thing that he skimped out. on cost so this is going to get really. complicated but just like bear with me. it's so important when you have a flat. ceiling and a column right up against it.

it's called Flat slab construction or at. least in Korean that's what it's called. it looks modern it's faster to build. it's cheaper but it's it's definitely. not safer it can cause something called. a punching phenomenon imagine you've got. a piece of paper and you're holding it. down on a pencil the pencil could easily. punch through into the piece of paper. now if you were to stick another. circular piece of paper on the point of. the pencil and and then stick another. paper on top it's much harder for you to.

stick through even though it's just. paper it's very hard to punch through. two layers that's the drop planel that's. what it's. called so think of it as instead of. walking through the mud with sneakers. you're walking through with heels the. difference is massive yeah your heels. are going to poke into the soil yeah but. Lee Rich businessman owner of a crazy. lucrative construction company says eh. should be okay he knew that this was a. bad idea he knew this was dangerous but.

it saved him money so he was all aboard. he said you know what it's fine columns. are strong but they're not especially. when you take out half the steel rods. like half the skeleton of the column is. now gone but the worst the biggest. Hazard of this whole building was the. fifth floor it should not have existed. the building was not designed to hold. the weight of another floor it sounds. like ah it's just another floor but that. is an additional 25% of the overall. weight added if not more that is huge at.

first he told his team it's going to be. for a roller skating rink which honestly. would have been a lot safer less traffic. not as much Furniture but instead he. said you know what makes more money. restaurants restaurants are insanely. heavy commercial ovens commercial. walk-in freezers industrial siiz. refrigerators lots of water lots of. water is heavy so since there's going to. be multiple Kitchens on that flooor I.

mean you're talking AC up there is going. to be intense restaurants are also more. densely packed than a roller skating. rink the entire weight distribution and. calculations were going off the walls. you know those big Amazon delivery. trucks uhhuh well the weight of the. fifth floor was about a 100 of those. delivery trucks imagine parking 100 of. those on the roof where it should not. be that's just the fifth floor that. that's not oh Annie wanted to do heated. floors for the fifth floor which added.

2,415 tons of weight just for heated. floors and on top of that there was even. more so the roof of the fifth floor on. building a were these giant AC cooling. towers they weighed 87 tons each there's. three of them so the total of that to. visualize imagine sticking two houses on. top of the roof of a mall that is. already unstable. this is I mean this is crazy just on top.

of the roof now here's where things go. really wrong on the roof so firstly the. AC Towers on the specific roof is a. death wish the vibrations that the AC. creates it only further destabilizes the. building's Foundation that's what causes. cracks vibration movement MH and so. since the get-go like opening day of. this mall they could see the red flags. the vibrations and the weight of the. heavy AC cooling towers they were. causing water leaks onto the fifth floor. cuz so water would leak out of the AC. there would be a crack and it would flow.

through but the biggest biggest atrocity. of what they did on that roof the AC. Towers were facing towards a nearby. apartment building all the residents of. that apartment building were like the AC. towers are so loud we're filing. complaints you got to do something about. it so they had to move the AC Towers to. the other side of the roof now to do. something like that what do you do you. have to call in industrial cranes you. got to have a ton of professionals on. site to make sure that it's done safely. and securely it's a pricey. relocation Lee very wealthy Mogul said.

too expensive get a couple of. dollies wow so they just scooped it over. they didn't even scoop it because. there's no dollies that can carry that. much weight they basically dragged it. and if you see pictures of that roof. from like opening year there's cracks. all. over wow and now they move the AC's to. the other side and what they do they. vibrate and cause even more cracking now.

to even the other side of the building. now here's where it gets kind of. unexpected this one I wasn't expecting. at all one of the first stores that. opened up inside this mall actually. contributed to the collapse a bookstore. did you know Korean books are even. heavier than foreign books because they. use a higher portion of stone powder in. the paper a year and a half after. opening the bookstore would be relocated. from the second floor of the mall down. to the basement because that bookstore.

was causing so much damage to the. building from the sheer weight of the. books and the shitty construction if. this had been a well-built building. there wouldn't have been any damage so. they realized something is happening. yeah there were cracks all over the. second. floor what there was bending in the. floor there was drooping in the floor. the floor was tilted where the book. store was wow and nobody did anything no. the entire building started to lean a.

little bit and all it would take would. be 20 seconds for the entire building to. crumble and literally not a single part. of this rescue was easy end of June in. South Korea is typically a very rainy. season the rain was pouring down on the. rescue efforts I mean in theory it might. have been good since when a building. collapses there's always small fires. trapped inside the rubble. you've got open electrical wires you've.

got appliances and poisonous gas they. start to spread which you know pretty. quickly could kill any Survivor that's. trapped inside that manages to find an. air pocket so the rain in theory would. have been helpful but it was just a. massive inconvenience like the rain was. not enough to put out the fires but it. was enough to slow down The Rescuers. firemen had to come in and try to calm. any potential flames and the first 16. hours of rescue efforts five people are. rescued so there was some progress and.

unfortunately one of the survivors would. die on the way to the hospital then 24. people who were trapped in the same air. pocket were rescued they were pulled out. by rope nothing was going smoothly I. mean they pulled them out but there were. still hundreds and hundreds of people. that were unaccounted for and The. Rescuers were non-stop sprinting from. place to place they're crawling inside. of holes that are already unstable. they're shimmying themselves through the. collapsed basement level squeezing past. these broken shards of glass beams like.

shining their flashlight into whatever. nook and cranny they could find. screaming to see if anyone. survived they would dig holes the size. of a kitchen sink and just start. crawling in there they'd like put their. lives in danger for every second that. they were there because they just wanted. to save. people a lot of the people in the mall. cuz it was a Tuesday afternoon were. young moms and. children the family members of the. missing and the victims they all.

gathered they tried to help random. civilians that had no family members in. there they were putting their lives on. the line to help save people retired. doctors grabbed their white coats and. went to local hospitals because there. were way too many people coming in a ton. of ajas a middle-aged woman they were. too old too frail to dig but they. created these organized groups and they. would cook for the thousands of Rescuers. every single. day but ultimately the morale for the.

rescue teams was dying which sounds bad. cuz I mean how can your morale die when. there's a chance that others need saving. right but they're working themselves to. the edge physically and mentally every. single day and all they're getting after. the first initial groups of survivors is. bad news they're just getting bad news. another body another body another body. 10 days had passed and it's the rule of. three do you know the rule of three no. three minutes without oxygen three days.

without water three weeks without. food and you'll die it had been 10 days. no food no water limited oxygen and. potentially injuries on top of all of. that The Rescuers thought okay maybe. it's time to go from Rescue to. recovery the faster the better July is. Peak monsoon season it's only going to. get worse we got to go people said you. could smell rotting corpses even if you. were blocks away from the site they.

started bringing in the heavy machinery. the chief of police asked all the family. members who are still present at that. site come on we we got to do one last go. before we bring in the machines call. your loved ones we can't hear anyone. maybe we can hear their phone and so all. of them are standing around with their. phone calling their missing loved ones. and they're just trying to listen but. they can't hear a single thing the US. actually would donate these um sound. detectors to help Rescuers find the. phones underneath the Korean government.

was already equipped with heat sensors. which is typically used to locate bodies. but the heat sensors they work with. infrared light and when it rains the. raindrops scatter the infrared and it. becomes wildly inaccurate 11 days had. passed and now Rescuers were like okay. no one survived so let's bring in the. Machinery Michael thought that he was. going to die in there but on the 11th. day of rescue a rescuer stopped he. blinked he scrambled grabbed his.

flashlight from his back pocket and. flashed it into the hole hello is anyone. there and he put his ear up against the. hole and this tiny little voice says I'm. here the other Rescuers they don't even. believe him so he's like come come come. and they all make him say I'm here again. and everyone starts swarming I mean 11. days in they had to penetrate an extra. 4T of thick reinforced concrete to get. him out he was out at 8:30 a.m.

230 hours after the collapse he was. carried out on a stretcher and he waved. for the cameras volunteer rescue workers. they're all cheering they're all. clapping I mean this was the victory. that they needed they're like take the. machines off we're going back to hand if. Michael survived there could be others. meanwhile Gia did not share this. excitement she thought she was going to. die for the past few days the concrete. on top of her face was coming closer and. closer and closer it was pure torture.

the air was getting stuffier and she. felt Panic the walls are literally. closing in on her but in the slowest way. possible she wanted to scream like oh my. God just squish me already wait she's. the 25-year-old no oh a different worker. yeah oh oh okay now the anxiety of it. about to come down was worse than just. dying she said I mean she was buried in. a pile of concrete l on her back so her. legs were trapped under a concrete pole.

and she was thankfully in an air pocket. but she can't move so at first Gia is. screaming her head off hoping that. people can hear her she's like hello I'm. here I'm here but nobody came so she. just said she kept falling asleep that's. all she could do I don't know if her. brain forced her to sleep she just said. I kept falling asleep I kept dreaming. that I was home I just wanted to go home. and I kept thinking oh my God my dad is. sick my mom is worrying about me and now. I'm going to be even a bigger burden 58.

hours passed so like 2 and 1/2 days in. remember the rule of three 3 minutes 3. days without water 3 weeks without food. 2 and 1/ half days in she's so thirsty. at this point she can't even think about. anything but her thirst and water starts. flowing and she takes a sip and she. immediately coughs it out she had rust. water coming in she waited till more. water came in and instead of letting it. flow directly into her mouth cuz it. tasted so disgusting and and Rusty she. grabbed a piece of her clothing soaked.

it in the water and then just kind of. wet her lips with it she had no idea how. many days had passed all she knew was. she was starting to hallucinate the part. where her legs felt were trapped she. felt like her legs were walking she felt. like her legs were floating at one point. when it clearly wasn't she was like. losing her mind she was losing sensation. on her legs she just kept going back to. sleep and then the next thing she knew. there's heavy machine sounds and the. concrete's just getting closer and and. closer and. closer would they push the concrete.

until it completely suffocated her would. they push the concrete till it squished. her like what's going to happen would. the excavator just come down and rip her. up her bottom legs are stuck so she'd be. ripped in half Gia felt. Terror sheer Terror she only had like 10. in left when all of a sudden she hears a. voice stop stop do you hear something. at around 2: p.m. on the 13th day wow a.

rescuer saw her foot and they yelled if. you're alive move your feet Gia tried to. wiggle her toes but she didn't even know. if it was wiggling cuz she lost. sensation a long time ago and she. screamed Save Me The Rescuer clawed. through the cement by hand and Gia just. remembered thinking ah I'm found she. said it wasn't ah I lived she didn't say. it was ah I survived she just thought.

I'm found good I don't care if I die. right now cuz at least they found my. body so my mom will know her mom was. later interviewed and asked like what. what is the first thing you want to say. to your daughter and she said do I even. need to say anything and they were. trying to ask like did you think your. daughter was dead cuz it had been 13. days and they said did you think she had. and her mom stops the journalist and. says no I didn't think that I'll never. think that because the day she dies is. the day I.

die after 285 hours Gio was rescued and. at that point the ceiling was so low it. was touching her nose she was not even. inches but centimet away from death and. everyone was like okay that's crazy. right but there's no way there's going. to be more survivors there's only so. many miracles that the Universe can give. us on the 15th day another woman is.

rescued let's call her Sammy she was. trapped in a small pocket of air in the. children's clothing section she heard. the voice of Her colleague screaming. help me and she just kept screaming. panicking help me there's this concrete. pinning my waist down she was getting. crushed and there was no way Sammy could. even get to her and she tried telling. her it's okay it's okay but after a day. or two there was no more noise Sammy. said you know all she did was try and.

fall asleep she had no idea how long she. was in there Sammy would be the last. survivor found in the rubble there would. be no more miracles after that before we. get to the depressing recovery um South. Korea did try to bring up the morale of. the country and the three survivors so. Michael Gia and Sammy almost became. these beacons of Hope for people Michael. was seen as this national hero for not. only somehow miraculously surviving in. the rubble for 11 days but also his.

iconic wave on the stretcher company. started offering him gigs to model for. them schools were offering the three. full ride scholarships there had been. this stereotype that the younger. generation were weak and not as tough as. their parents in South Korea but this. was completely obliterated this idea and. just like Michael Gia the one who. survived 13 days she made headlines. because when she was pulled out of there. reporters asked her while she was on the. stretcher how do you feel any PL now. that you've been saved and she said I. want to go on a date with the OPA that.

rescued. me and people thought it was such an. unhinged hilarious fun answer to such a. serious serious depressing. situation the last three survivors were. asked what food do you want to eat the. most Michael said Coca-Cola I want to. drink an ice cold Coke Gia said iced. coffee Sammy said I just want some ice. cream every soda ice coffee ice cream. brand went nuts trying to sign these.

three for brand endorsements Gia also. kept making jokes like nobody knew if. they could keep laughing or not when she. was rescued she complained why did you. guys come so fast I could have stayed. there a few days longer let me go back. in there Michael had to have his head. shaved to run some tests and he was so. embarrassed anytime reporters ran into. his hospital room he would put on his. little Beanie his little hat and I think. that these are the stories that people. wanted to focus on because the other. side was just so dark side note um.

almost all the rescues especially the. ones that weren't immediate they were. all subground level so they were all in. the basement the other floors I mean. this is a picture of what it looked like. there was no way that people were going. to survive that collapse unless maybe. you were on the roof which probably not. even then Pongo the magnet working on. the restaurant floor of the fifth floor. he was rescued pretty early on he he had. made it kind of basically out I think he. was hit by just some debris and he said. every single person I spoke to that day.

the head chef my colleagues. customers I would later see all their. names written on the deceased. list another Survivor said I just don't. understand the point of life. anymore like the people that died there. were nice people there were really rich. people there were workers like me there. were people who went to church there. were people who studied really hard. yet everyone died without even a chance. to fight for their lives so what is the.

point of anything at all families of. victims said the nightmare was just. never ending um I do want to say that. the rescue efforts were admirable The. Rescuers they did everything but the. system itself was flawed Korea didn't. have a strong system to respond to these. types of crisises which like I don't. know if they still do with after and but. at the time it was so disorganized. family had no idea if loved ones were. alive survived deceased at Hospital. which hospital nobody had a clue the.

site was left open for people to just. come and volunteer and so a lot of. people did come and volunteer but there. were also a lot of hyenas what do you. think the hyenas did they were dubbed. hyenas by the media about 400 hyenas. were arrested during rescue efforts. families are crying Rescuers are risking. their lives they're stealing stuff. they're pretending to help and stealing. designer good. wow when one was arrested they just.

callously responded well they were all. going to go to the dump. anyway another man was caught. volunteering wearing 10 pairs of. designer pants 10 pairs when asked why. the hell were you stealing 10 pairs of. designer pants he said what are you. talking about I was saving lives and I. got cold in the middle of June so I just. put on whatever was near me meanwhile Mr. Jung was at work when the building fell. he's an attorney and he didn't hear. about it until way later he was at a.

whik with his co-workers and they were. drinking they're eating and he just had. this pit in his stomach when people were. like oh you didn't hear about the mall. so his wife and his three adult. daughters they loved going to that mall. so he calls his wife she picks up and. he's like oh my God thank God okay. you're home right are the girls home did. you hear about what happened at the. department store she's like what no the. girls are there shopping Mr Jung's. coworker said that he didn't even say. anything it when minute he was on the. phone the next minute he was out the. door he ran on foot to the department.

store and all he saw was Rubble he. started climbing on the rubble in his. suit just clawing looking for his girls. he went to every single Hospital in the. city he talked to nurses doctors looked. at hospital morgs the day after the. collapse he would be told that all three. of his children were dead and he said. after what my wife and I went through. that day I just hoped that the sky would. fall and the Earth would give out and we.

would just all die and of course he. feels for every single daughter but he. really felt for his eldest cuz she had. fought and beaten All Odds his eldest. daughter went blind when she was 12. years old she worked harder than anyone. he knew harder than all of his adult. cooworker colleagues attorneys combined. she ended up getting her master's in. special education at UC Berkeley in the. United States she came back to teach.

special education at sde which is the. best school in the entire country and. her dad said she couldn't see in front. of her but she just always had a vision. and she fought all these odds to be here. and now she's gone there was another. family the Lee family and Mom Lee Mrs. Lee she was telling her daughter for. months like give up the dreams of the. department store and her daughter told. her no if I'm going to be a fashion. designer I can't just rent a small shop.

anywhere I have to make a big statement. I'm going to get foot traffic this is I. know it's a lot of money but I've saved. up my entire life savings I'm going to. rent this tiny little shop it's my dream. and she signed the lease 2 months before. the collapse and Mrs Lee said all that. nagging she did completely forgot about. it cuz the minute that she saw her. daughter in that shop just how much. passion she had for what she was doing. how could she not support her she was at.

her shop when the building went. down and this part is so dark but it. feels really raw a lot of families. reported feeling shame and guilt. afterwards because they were all there. and when survivors were being found they. would see survivors reunite with their. families and they said they would feel. intense. jealousy cuz it's only human and then. immediately they would feel so ashamed. for feeling so jealous and it made them. feel so gross but they had this like uh.

That Should Be Me So after the last. remaining survivors were rescued the. government decided they needed to start. clearing out the. debris they said it was dangerous to. just have it out in the open so they. just started moving the rubble to dump. sites and a lot of victims have not been. found yet so families were at dump. sites by themselves no rescue workers. digging through the. rubble at that point some of them only.

found. bones and if there was any flesh they. were unrecognizable this mall had been. built 6 years ago it wasn't even around. for I mean you you go and you look at. houses in La there's houses from like. 1920 still up for sale so for it to. collapse injuring over 900 people. killing 502 people and resulting in 40. people that are still considered missing. to this day it doesn't make sense the. public is like we want answers it was. revealed that the building was not.

attacked by North Korea or a group of. terrorists there was no earthquake no. natural disaster the building went down. on its own so obviously there's some. sort of human error so they found the. owner the Lee family and journalists. start hounding him with questions and. look the way that this man answers. questions does not help him in the eyes. of the public they said did you do a. safety inspection on the building Mr Lee. said look here we've got many people. coming in and out of this building do. you really like think about it do you. really think if we knew that the. building was going to go down we would.

keep it open of course we did safety. checks it was received by the president. of the building I am the owner I only. attend meetings once a week so you'd. have to ask management to clear up those. answers in other words we have no motive. to keep the mall open if we knew it was. going to collapse but as a company it's. not just about injury to customers it's. about company property he's comparing. 502 people dying to losing a all like I. think it's clear what he's trying to say. like of course everything was great and.

we knew nothing about this because think. about it from our standpoint would it be. logical to ignore such a big safety. concern if it would ruin our company but. the delivery was disgusting and nobody. believed him he would also try to argue. that if the building was so dangerous. why was he in Building B when it. collapsed but he survived Building B did. not collapse because Building B had. sturdier columns because it was in a. mall so they didn't need to display. merchandise they didn't have all this. heavy machine there was like no one in.

there also they didn't even have the. massive AC units on the roof and this. whole argument backfired when it was. revealed the reason that Mr Lee was even. in Building B to begin with was because. there was an emergency meeting about. whether or not the mall should be. evacuated that's what they were doing. debating whether or not to close the. mall when the mall collapsed the meeting. last for hours and Executives were. arguing so Lee and his son who is the. president of the mall they were arguing.

that it's going to be bad for business. the board of Executives were arguing it. doesn't matter because if the building. collapses or even if a ceiling falls. through and a customer gets injured. that's going to be bad for business a. few Executives left mid meeting because. they got calls of complaints by store. owners that like ceilings were. crumbling literally during the meeting. they left they went to investigate they. went onto the roof top one of the. executives saw one of the columns. punching through the roof he turned to.

his colleague and said get everyone out. now Lee I don't care get him out they. were on the way. downstairs when the building went down. the other Executives and the Lee family. were still arguing when all hell broke. loose people are sprinting towards exits. people were being pushed into clothing. racks because now you could hear the. groaning like once that groaning hit you. had 20 seconds to get out some people.

were in their underwear just making a. run for it they had been caught in the. middle of changing now they're booking. it if Lee hadn't cut even more costs and. had there been more escalators more. stairwells more emergency exits more. people could have been saved because now. there was almost a crowd Crush situation. on top of the. collapse a domino effect took over the. fifth floor ceiling fell through and now. it was on the fourth floor. holding the weight but that was about to. crumble and then soon the third floor.

and it would just all pancake in 20. seconds nobody had a warning it looks. like one of those um aluminum soda cans. that you step on the executives and the. Lee family heard they ran out ran to the. hallway and it's just a cliff and they. see the building on the ground but still. chairman Lee acts like he knew nothing. okay whenever he was interviewed by. journalists he would make it about. himself one journalist asked if he had. anything he wanted to say to the. victim's family and he just said do you. think I wanted this to happen I have. nothing to say what's crazy about all of.

this and this whole family is that Lee's. daughter-in-law so the president of the. mall his son's wife was in the building. when it was collapsed she was rescued. early on she refused to give her name to. Rescuers and people thought that was. weird The Rescuers were like what like. you don't want your family to know that. you're okay everyone that could talk was. giving their name so that your families. can find you but the very next day they. saw that same woman they rescued on the.

news standing next to her husband and. her father-in-law showing her full. support wow so a full investigation on. the cause of the collapse was ordered by. the government and it revealed a lot I. mean obviously it revealed all of the. things that I've mentioned before but on. top of that chairman Lee was known to. constantly change the interior of the. mall like he was just changing clothes. he would rip out perfectly acceptable. lighter wood floors and put in super. heavy marble flooring he did not care. about durability he wanted it to look. expensive because more people would come.

and they would shop and he would make. more money that's all he wanted more. money he would knock down interior walls. to like make more space for merchandise. and with all the new Renovations there. were more customers and it's not like. the building crumbled out of nowhere. there were literal bright red warning. signs that the Lee family and the. executives they were made aware of to. months before the collapse a thin line. emerged on the ceiling of the fifth.

floor it was more of an ey store than. anything but every now and then tinkle. tinkle there'd be Dust Landing on. people's faces coming from that crack. like that's kind of crazy if you were. dining at the restaurants your. chopsticks would slowly roll to the side. and off the table because the floor was. tilting but all the customers thought oh. man what's wrong with this table no one. thought it was the floor no one thought. it was the building that was leaning. workers on the restaurant level they. would put in a container of raw veggies. on the fridge shelf it's like an.

industrial walk-in fridge they would. walk back in and it's like slid all the. way to the wall they had put it next to. the door it slid all the way down to the. wall like 5T down to the wall why would. it be. sliding that didn't make any. sense the floor of the fifth floor was. tilted at a 15° angle the tilting got so. bad the fifth floor restaurants had to. be closed they requested civil engineers. to be called in for an inspection and. the main person that called was Lee's. son so he's there with the inspectors.

and they're like yeah uh this building. is an imminent danger of collapse the. only option that you have in situations. like this is to evacuate close the. entire building down and we can game. plan on what the next steps are so they. already know this before way before like. two months before and he's like okay. okay let me think about it he didn't. think about it instead he hired workers. to just hide the Cracks by adding more. grout and plaster. he was like as long as the customers. don't see because this month was crucial.

for them June and July were the summer. sale months this is another illegal. thing that they're doing in South Korea. you can only have a sale for 2 weeks I. don't know why I guess it's so that. stores can't like try to manipulate you. into like buying things right 2 weeks. the sale is scheduled for July when. everybody else has the sale but the Le. were like we can be smart we're going to. get our VIP clients Early Access so. we're going to sell them the product. since they're are VIPs we know them and. we're only going to run their card at.

the sale prices in July but they can. come during June and they had a lot of. VIPs so June was a very busy hight TR. month for them crazy busy 10 days before. the collapse a customer was sitting at. their table on the fifth floor to eat. and the whole thing started shaking she. said it was so strange she thought it. was an earthquake or something but when. she told her friends that we're not the. mall they were like what are you talking. about about there was no earthquake. there was nothing on the news 5 days. before the collapse another customer was.

on the fifth floor eating when it felt. like someone doused a bucket of water on. their head and she's like what the hell. looks up there is like a droopy hole. it's not even just a hole but like a. part of the ceiling that's drooping down. at the end there's a. hole the employees were made aware of it. they tell upper management and they're. like H it's just s's shitty Construction. ction they did not think that water. leaks were even in the same possibility.

as a building. collapsing the night before the collapse. the security guard noticed the sinkhole. in the roof and he called Lee's son and. was like sir there's a literal sinkhole. on the roof and apparently the son went. himself to check it out and while he's. standing there staring at this giant. hole one of the managers of the. restaurant comes out and he like hey. I've been trying to call you for ages. now look at this look can I show. you something they walk over to one of. the columns on the fifth floor near. here's restaurant there's an 8 in Long. crack that's knuckle deep but that's not. even all the manager is like I've been.

waiting for this okay I'm paying all. this money and look at that ceiling look. at that ceiling above the kitchen it's. droopy and look look he puts his phone. on the counter like the cash register of. the restaurant it slides off he's like I. know it's not my counter so what's going. on Lee Sun checks his watch he's like. shoot the stores are about to open for. the day okay just why don't we close. down all the restaurants on this floor. um I guess if you want to stay open you. can stay open but it's fine close down. we're going to figure it out we'll send. up maintenance or.

something maintenance workers were sent. up and they're like guys this is. going to go down like that under no. circumstances can we put plaster on. anything anymore like it's going to go. down Lee son left the building for about. 30 minutes before he was called back in. this time to the fourth floor a shop. owner said I just heard these like. really crazy like tuck tuck tuck noises. and then the whole floor shook for like. 3 minutes. they're like isn't that right Susie like. 3 minutes and Susie's like yeah three.

full minutes Lee son is like okay let me. investigate right before he could even. figure it out water starts pouring down. the walls of the fifth. floor that's why they turned off the AC. units he said you know what don't close. them allall turn off the AC units and. drain the water inside of them because. that's what's. leaking and then 4 hours before the. collapse evacuation orders were given. Lee Sun said let's focus on what matters.

don't tell the customers but let's take. out all the Priceless Goods paintings. artwork jewelry ancient Pottery super. expensive bags let's take it out just in. case we don't know it could flood it. could do something customers employees. they were not evacuated they had no idea. they were in a compromised. building this is unbelievable it's like. the guy's doing everything in his power. to kill people why did they not evacuate. because the mall was bringing in about. $400,000 a.

day and they said we can't lose out on. that many of the victims died on impact. others suffocated to death others bled. out some starved to death and a lot of. them drowned to. death when firefighters were trying to. put out the fires inside the rubble the. water came in and filled their air. pockets some of the other survivors. could hear them drowning and the. firefighters that work that scene I. don't think it's their fault I think.

they did their best considering the. information and tools they were given. but they still have PTSD they have. nightmares about it they said they will. carry around the guilt for the rest of. their. lives in the end the court sentenced Lee. Jun the chairman to 7 and a half years. in prison and his son got seven you look. so shocked right but this was actually a. big deal this is what's even crazier. about this case Okay is the fact that to.

me I'm like 7 years that's nothing right. in Korea this was Landmark this was. crazy that they got seven years I mean. people don't get me wrong people were. still upset it wasn't enough but a lot a. lot of people being very cynical. skeptical and just realistic they. weren't expecting the Lee family to get. any jail time not saying that they. didn't deserve it but that was the track. record for the government the reason why. they got a lengthy jail time lengthy. quote is really dark it's a high-end. department store a lot of the victims.

were wives of influential. businessmen to just name a few and not. saying that these people's lives hold. more value but to give context on Whose. families were fighting for these. offenders to get jail time wife of. Samsung Electronics president wife of te. M Motors wife of the Samsung division. Electronics division oh okay okay yeah. advis her to Samsung Motors and former. head of Korea's Custom Service um. adviser to Samsung engineering and.

construction executive for Hyundai. engineering and construction wives of. high-powered attorneys judges and. doctors a judge's mother I mean these. were just a few to name many of these. were the upper echelon of society these. were the elites and they still only got. seven years yes and the worst part is NE. Isen speculate had this been a middle. class m or a lower class mall they. probably would have gotten no jail time. but why though what how is.

that yeah how. like I guess it was um a blame shifting. game so Lee's family would actually. shift the blame on government workers. that they bribed so they would say hey. we didn't pass our safety inspection but. just say we. did and about 30 government workers were. fired and arrested as well so because. there were so many people to blame it. became this game of like who's really at. fault was it the gatekeeper the. government workers that didn't make sure.

that the safety inspections were up to. date who was it the own yeah I don't. sent all of them to jail 500 people died. I agree Lee was 72 when he got out he. died a year later so we're not too sad. about that uh meanwhile Lee's son June. is one of the very few families in South. Korea uh many we've talked about that. are basically socially exiled they're. legally allowed to be in Korea but he is. said to have been spotted living in. Russia we don't know for sure but like.

the minute he steps foot in South Korea. I mean nothing's going to happen so he's. still around right now yeah but he's. free yes but I think that he has no. money I don't know if he had a lot of. hidden money but the family's Fortune. was completely liquidated and given to. the survivors and victims families it's. estimated that each family received. around um 250,000. cuz there's a lot of people which. honestly is nothing compared to the life. of a loved one but trust me this is not.

a story where victim's families get. closure 500 plus people died like that's. a tragedy that is going to be felt. Nationwide I mean think about the. spiderweb of people that are either. directly or indirectly impacted by this. level of loss well the president of. South Korea was asked to say say. something to the victims and he said the. collapse of this hung department store. today was 21 days ago I wish for peace. for those who lost their precious lives. I pray for the speedy recovery and for.

those who are injured and I express my. condolences to the families who suffered. an unexpected accident thank you he's at. his Podium okay he stands still for. maybe 2 seconds and he thinks that the. camera is off now and he turns to his. Aid and says that should be enough. right okay.

it wasn't even in the tone of like oh do. you think I should say more like was O. was that um did I convey my emotions. correctly it was like a like I did it. happy let's go he doesn't care yeah a. lot of the victim's families were upset. at the government and even the rescue op. operations not the rescue workers but. the operation they felt like the. government wanted to throw some money at. the victim's families start cleaning up. the rubble and make use of the land. again the victim's families requested a.

memorial um not to give a comparison but. later on this comparison does come up a. lot in Korean media sources but like 911. in the US I mean that is crazy real. estate if you think about it that is. Prime real estate but out of respect for. the. tragedy there is a memorial there you go. there to you remember these families you. remember these victims everyone that. lost their. lives but the government said this is.

such a good area of. kangnam it's like. Center like every time someone drives. through here they're going to have to be. reminded of that and like what about the. real estate prices of all the people who. spent so much money on condos nearby. it's going to go down if we have a. memorial here so they said we'll give. you a memorial so the family said okay. then can you give it to us at this park. that's a very famous Park that people. love to go to and it's a beautiful Park. we can go there and spend time with our.

loved ones but that Park is so pretty. people will be so depressed if they go. there and they see 500 something. names what about in the woods they. literally gave them a memorial in the. middle of nowhere like just in the. mountains and they built a luxury. apartment building where that yeah the. some point the apartment store yeah one. of the victim's families was interviewed. and the mom said it's money money money.

building cost this money cleanup costs. that money compensation costs money. let's give money to the victims. everything is about money and nothing is. about my. child remember Mr Jung speaking of money. he lost three daughters in the collapse. and his eldest daughter was the blind. professor at sde he was compensated over. $600,000 for the loss of all of his. children which is nothing and he gave it. all to this whole National School for.

the Blind over the course of his life he. would donate more than $1.3 million to. churches schools and Charities that his. daughter liked and he would say money to. me is nothing that I can have my. daughters all had dreams to make the. world a better place and I'm just have. to fulfill those dreams before I. go and Gia the one that survived 13 days. she said I just hope people can learn. from this that no one should ever have a.

h it won't happen to me it doesn't. concern me attitude because tragedy. doesn't really pick people to happen to. it can happen to anyone it can happen to. your child that waved goodbye to you. before school or the husband that. promised to be home for dinner I never. thought something like this would happen. to me but it. did and that is the story of this H. department store. collapse honestly what what are your.

thoughts please leave it in the comments. and yeah it's crazy but please stay safe. and I will see you guys on Wednesday for. the main episode bye.