Typhoon to put Korea's tallest building to critical test
The Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, southeastern Seoul / Courtesy of Lotte Group
By Park Si-soo
For South Korea's tallest building, the Lotte World Tower, the approaching Typhoon Soulik is a critical test.
The ferocious storm ― which is expected to slam into Seoul early Friday with torrential rain and wind gusts up to 155 km/h (as of 9 a.m.) ― will be the first to make landfall on the Korean mainland in six years.
If the 555-meter skyscraper escapes unscathed, it will offer a moment of unbridled joy that its ability to withstand the violent whipping of a powerful typhoon is proven.
But if anything bad happens, the specter of distrust would emerge. People would think twice about the building's safety. And the skyscraper's reputation would crash on shaky ground.
The worst-case scenario would see the revival of nail-biting worry over the building's safety that hit the headlines four years ago. A string of unfortunate incidents ― the appearance of sinkholes on nearby streets, unexplained tremors felt in theaters and water leaks from an underground aquarium ― happened in and outside the tower, which was then under construction.
Concerns resonated loudly. As a consequence, Lotte had to endure the humiliation of being forced to suspend construction for an extensive safety check. This found no critical flaw in the building's structure and construction resumed.
It had an extravagant opening ceremony in April 2017, and no serious safety-related incident has emerged since. For its part, Lotte has tried hard to wipe widespread safety concerns about the building through events to attract people to the building.
Many Lotte officials say the approaching typhoon is the “last hurdle” they have to clear.
“We are doing everything to ensure perfect preparation for the typhoon,” a Lotte official said.
Lotte conducted an emergency safety check of the tower on Tuesday and Wednesday. It is also running an emergency response team 24/7 to deal with any problems the typhoon may cause.
Meanwhile, Typhoon Soulik, the 19th this year, struck the southern island of Jeju overnight and was expected to make landfall on the Korean Peninsula early Friday.
The government has ordered a temporary closure of thousands of public schools acorss across the country.
A young female, in her 20s, has been reported missing on Jeju after being swept away by huge waves. Hundreds of flights have also been suspended.
An engineer checks a lightning rod at the top of Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, southern Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Lotte Group
Engineers inspect the roof of the Lotte World Tower Wednesday. / Courtesy of Lotte Group