By Jung Min-ho
The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) vowed Monday to shut down the second Lotte World in southern Seoul, if additional safety lapses occur there due to improper safety management and response systems.
The warning came amid heightened concerns over the tower, which recently reported a series of safety problems, including cracks in its aquarium, vibration problems in its theater, and the death of a construction worker in the building.
“If more accidents occur under current conditions, showing that Lotte does not have proper safety management and response systems, we will take stronger punitive action including suspending the operation of the building,” an SMG official told reporters.
Even with the systems in place, a major incident could shut down the building, the official added.
“In addition to its inability to prevent many safety lapses, Lotte’s responses to dealing with the media have been poor, which made the problems look even worse,” the official said. “Lotte has to solve the problems transparently instead of hiding them.”
Last month, public opinion turned sour against Lotte following a disclosure that its officials tried to cover up the cracks found in its aquarium by putting up signs that read “cleaning” and “environment improvement” around the leaking tank. They did not inform visitors of the problem.
“We learned that cracks found in the building’s underground parking lots, which recently made headlines, were not a real threat to safety since there were no structural problems,” the official said. “But Lotte failed to check them immediately with experts and refused to explain what was going on, which made the public concerned.”
Yet SMG still believes that the building is generally safe.
“The problem lies mainly in dealing with the problems. So far, they have not been serious,” the official noted.
The city government advised Lotte to collaborate with external agencies in preventing further accidents.
Responding to the latest announcement, Lotte said that it would hold a monthly meeting with experts to do so.
In an attempt to salvage Lotte’s faltering reputation, in his New Year message, Group Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho asked his employees to work hard to ensure the safety of the building, whose construction is scheduled to be completed in 2016.