Detailed information on how the government treated those who protested following the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store in Seoul on 29 June 1995 and on how the government treated the victims of this disaster could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

The official total of those killed in the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store had risen to 459 by 22 July 1995 with more than 900 injured and 134 listed as missing (Keesing's July 1995, 40646). The search for victims had been concluded on 21 July but was resumed two days later after relatives of the victims staged a violent protest on the site and several police were injured (ibid.). According to a Reuters report of 19 July 1995, the President of Korea proclaimed the collapsed store a disaster area and the National Assembly passed a bill allowing state funds to be used for rescue activities, medical activities and compensation for relatives of the victims.

In October 1995, fifty relatives of the victims again clashed with police outside of City Hall, protesting the amount of compensation that was being offered by the department store (USA Today 27 Oct. 1995). Please see the attached report from the Washington Post of 21 December 1995 for more information on protests by relatives of the victims and their quest for compensation. An Asiaweek report of 27 December 1996 indicates that those responsible had been brought to court and the victims had been compensated but neither the date of the judgement nor the amounts awarded are reported. The President of the Sampoong Department Store, Lee Joon, was convicted of negligence and sentenced to over ten years in prison while his son, Lee Han-sang, was given a seven year sentence for negligence and bribing government officials (Engineering News-Record of 1 Jan. 1996; Keesing's, Dec. 1995, 40864). Two local government officials were fined and a third was convicted of accepting bribes in exchange for allowing structural changes to the building (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Asiaweek. [London]. 27 December 1996. "Unearthing the Past." (NEXIS)

Engineering News-Record. 1 January 1996. "Jail Time for Store's Owner." (NEXIS)

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. December 1995. Vol. 41, No. 12. "Imprisonment of Shopping Mall Owner."

_____. July 1995. Vol. 41, No. 7/8. "South Korea: Disasters."

Reuters. 19 July 1995. Shim Sung-won. "South Korea's Kim Vows to End Shoddy Building." (NEXIS)

USA Today. 27 October 1995. "S. Korea Probe Turns Up More Slush Funds." (NEXIS)

The Washington Post. 21 December 1995. Kevin Sullivan. "Survivors Keep Vigil in Seoul; Relatives Mourn Dead in June Store Collapse." (NEXIS).

Asian Survey [Berkeley]. 1995 to present.

Electronic sources: IRB Databases, Global News Bank, LEXIS/NEXIS, REFWORLD (UNHCR database).

Research Centre Country File (Korea). 1995 to present.