Seoul's 600-year-old Sungnyemun Gate survived both the Korean War and Japanese occupation, but it could not endure the anger of a 69-year-old man and his simmering grudge against the South Korean government.
Exactly one year ago, Chae Jong-ki arrived outside the nation’s most revered monument, armed with an aluminium ladder, three bottles of paint thinner and two cigarette lighters.
Enraged that the government had ignored his complaint involving a land dispute, the onetime fortune-teller started a blaze that destroyed the 14thcentury wood-and-stone pagoda.
On Tuesday’s anniversary of the fire, Lim Young-suk, 68, tightly clutched her husband’s arm as she attended a daylong exhibition at the site of the longtime icon, which is undergoing a five-year, $20 million reconstruction.
The aim of the exhibition was to raise awareness of the nation’s cultural heritage. But it made Lim grieve her nation’s loss all over again. “I still feel like crying when I think about it,” she said. “This gate is the post that holds South Koreans together.” Situated in the centre of what is now a major downtown traffic circle, surrounded by skyscrapers, the ancient gate had stood in marked contrast to Seoul’s breathless modernisation.
“If the Arc de Triomphe fell down, it would shock most Parisians,” said Lee Kang-geun, an architecture history professor at Kyeongju University in Seoul. “For Koreans, this is as significant as the Arc de Triomphe.” In sentencing Chae to 10 years in prison, a judge ruled that the arsonist “inflicted unbearable agony on the people and damaged national pride.” Many also blame officials for the loss, complaining that lax security allowed Chae easy access.
In recent months, the government has embarked on an ambitious — and controversial — rebuilding project. A move to collect private funds was publicly ridiculed by many who said that because officials had allowed the tragedy to happen, they should pay for the work themselves. “It’s a tough job to satisfy people who experienced such a huge national loss,” said Jang Kuyeon, an official from the Sungnyemun restoration project team at the Cultural Heritage Administration. “They were really frustrated.” The fire sparked criticism of lacklustre security at other national landmarks, but preservationists are battling more than just public anger as they struggle to reconstruct the landmark.
The two-story Sungnyemun Gate, also known as Namdaemun, was built in 1398 during Korea’s Chosun Dynasty and served as the southern gate to the original four walls surrounding the capital city. It was designated a national treasure in 1962.
Officials have conducted a nationwide search for 100-year-old pine timber similar to that used on Sungnyemun.
The wood must be dried for two years to avoid cracking.
They also are trying to re-create the original Chinese text of a wooden tablet that hung on the gate. About 3,000 pieces of wood have been salvaged from the charred remains, which officials hope to piece together.
Experts say the challenges aren’t just technical. “It’s hard to capture the feelings and soul of the ancestors who built this,” said Choi Ki-young, a nationally recognized historical preservationist.
“You can’t know what was on their mind unless they are here to guide us.” After the fire, authorities sealed off the site with a mammoth plastic screen depicting the landmark unmarred. On the night of the fire, Chae climbed up the western wall and used his ladder to enter the wooden tower, pouring paint thinner on the floor. Chae had been convicted in 2006 of setting fire to another South Korean landmark — nearby Changgyeong Palace — and causing $4,200 in damage there.
Chae later told police that he chose Sungnyemun because of lax security — motion detectors that were easy to evade. He also issued a national apology.
“No words are enough to express my apology to my children and the people,” he reportedly told investigators.
Waiting in line in a steady rain Tuesday morning — one of the estimated 5,000 visitors who would tour the ruins by day’s end — Kang Sun-ja said she had come to see what remained of the place she considered vital to her national heritage. And she wasn’t in a mood to bestow forgiveness on the man who burned it down. “Even if he was executed, I’d still be angry at him,” Sun-ja said.
© The Washington Post
