Seoul dragging feet on Lotte Tower
By Jung Min-ho
.jpg?w=728)
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon
The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) has delayed the Lotte World Tower opening.
Before deciding on whether to approve a formal opening of the world’s sixth-tallest skyscraper, a 10-day “pre-opening” will be scheduled to make sure there were no safety issues, SMG officials said Wednesday.
That decision raised some eyebrows because the SMG previously said there were no safety problems. Critics say the city government is just trying to make up an excuse in case any problems arose after the opening was approved.
The pre-opening date has not yet been decided.
“We have decided to put off the decision,” an SMG official told reporters. “We want to make sure that it is not conditional approval.”
But there will be no shops in the complex, which will be empty.
The official said the SMG thought “more people and experts needed to experience” the empty building before making a final call.
The SMG’s decision seems to be more political than a reflection of sincere concern for safety, because a panel of citizens has already inspected the tower many times.
Also, about 40,000 people have visited parts of the building over the past 40 months, according to a Lotte official.
Lotte, which is in charge of building the complex, requested permission to open on June 9. But the city government refused, citing safety and traffic concerns.
After fixing all the problems the SMG had requested, the company again submitted an application to open on Aug. 18.
Meanwhile, a 23-member panel of experts inspected the building, as well as its surroundings, to ensure its safety.
The SMG could not find anything wrong at that time, but had to wait longer as the tower was being cited as the cause of sinkholes, which recently appeared in southern Seoul on an unprecedented scale.
After discovering that Samsung Construction & Trade’s work on subway line No. 9 was the cause, the SMG still refused to allow the opening, citing ongoing safety concerns.
During the 10-day pre-opening, there will be emergency evacuation drills inside the high-rise. Traffic conditions around the building will also be monitored.
“We regret that the SMG has put off the decision again, even after we did everything that it asked for,” a Lotte PR official told The Korea Times. “We will continue to cooperate with the SMG for further safety inspections. We believe there will be no problem.”
The company was confident a pre-opening could be held “as early as tomorrow,” but the date will be decided after talks with the SMG.