By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
President-elect Lee Myung-bak Monday lamented the destruction of the Sungnyemun Gate, Korea's National Treasure No. 1, by a fire suspected to have been caused by arson. The gate in the heart of Seoul is also known as Namdaemun, or South Gate.
``It is our country's symbolic cultural heritage,'' Lee said during a visit to the site.
``People usually describe going to Seoul as going to see Namdaemun. I'm grieved and I believe our citizens feel the same way,'' he said.
The ornate two-story wood building atop the six-century-old stone gate was the country's oldest wooden structure. It was designated as National Treasure No. 1 in 1962.
The landmark was constructed in the early Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) during the reign of its founder King Taejo in 1398 and was one of Seoul's eight main gates. It was rebuilt in 1447 and has undergone several renovations since then.
The restoration of Namdaemun will take at least three years and cost about $21.2 million, according to officials of the Cultural Heritage Administration.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo presided over an emergency meeting of relevant officials to discuss restoring the iconic structure and ways of preventing the recurrence of such incidents.
Lawmakers of the pro-government and opposition parties also mourned over the tragedy.
Political parties spoke with one voice about the need to improve the government's disaster prevention and maintenance systems.
``The government was at a loss on how to do it, while watching Sungnyemun collapsing after about five hours,'' Sohn Hak-kyu, chairman of the pro-government United New Democratic Party said. ``I, as a political leader, deeply felt the responsibility for the country's failed disaster maintenance system.''
The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) criticized the authorities for failing to take proper measures to protect the national treasure, calling for punitive actions against those responsible.
``It's just a heartbreaking and sad incident,'' Rep. Kang Jae-sup of the GNP said. ``As fire defense authorities were believed to make the incident worse by misjudging the situation, the government should establish the cause of the fire thoroughly and come up with measures to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.''
The gate caught fire Sunday evening. More than 100 firefighters battled the blaze and believed it was under control. However, it flared up again resulting in the total destruction of the gate.
The Cultural Heritage Administration is also blamed for having prevented firefighters from extinguishing the fire in an active manner, in order ``not to harm the No. 1 treasure.''
One witness, a taxi driver, said he saw a man in his 50s carrying a shopping bag climb the side of the gate's stone foundations a few minutes before the fire, according to police, who are trying to identify him and seek more witnesses.