CHA Ignored Jung-gu District Office’s Proposal

Police concluded that Chae (70) is solely responsible for the arson on Sungnyemun and decided to send him to the prosecution on Feb. 19.

Public officers of the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA)’s Historic Architecture Division and the Jung-gu District Office were summoned for the investigation over the preservation of Sungnyemun and the preparation and management system of fire fighting facilities there.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Management Department’s record on the measures taken by hour, administration officers talked to fire authorities over the phone for four minutes from 9:40 p.m. when the fire broke out. During the initial phone conversation, they said, “Be careful in putting out the fire,” “You can ruin Sungnyemun. Just extinguish the fire,” and “When the fire is likely to spread, destroy Sungnyemun,” clearly showing they were also very confused about how to deal with the situation.

Police confirmed that when the Jung-gu District Office proposed to establish fire fighting facilities for the cultural heritage in June 2006, the administration refused.

The CHA explained that the reason it did not establish necessary facilities is because it thought fire trucks could reach the location quickly as the cultural heritage was located in the middle of downtown.

Meanwhile, the debate over the sale of roof tiles from Sungnyemun on the Internet was found to be a practical joke of a netizen.

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