Yoo In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, apologized on the 1st for the fire at the National Hangeul Museum.
Yoon In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is listening to an explanation from officials at the site of the fire at the National Hangeul Museum in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the 1st. Photo by Yonhap News
Minister Yoo arrived at the fire site around 11:30 a.m. that day and said, "I am truly sorry to the public for the sudden news of the fire," adding, "There are many multicultural facilities under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and we will thoroughly inspect them and prepare to maintain safety properly."
Minister Yoo stated, "Fortunately, the museum staff and firefighters acted quickly to prevent major damage," and "Important artifacts were safely transferred to the storage of the National Museum of Korea."
The fire at the National Hangeul Museum was fully extinguished after 7 hours. The firefighting operation involved 76 pieces of equipment and 262 personnel. The museum transferred its collections to the National Museum of Korea for safety.
Although the 3rd and 4th floors of the museum were completely burned in the fire, there was no damage to cultural heritage. The museum was closed due to expansion construction, so there were no visitors. Two workers inside the museum were rescued, and four others evacuated.
The museum is a building with one basement floor and four above ground floors. The fire started on the 3rd floor, which is used as an exhibition hall, and spread to the 4th floor. One firefighter who entered the museum fell 2 meters after the work platform he was standing on gave way and was injured by falling rebar; he was transported to the hospital.
The fire authorities are investigating the exact cause, suspecting that sparks from welding work to cut rebar at the expansion construction site may have started the fire.
The National Hangeul Museum holds about 89,000 items related to Hangeul literature and materials. Nine items, including 'Worin Seokbo Volumes 9 and 10,' 'King Jeongjo’s Hangeul Letter Collection,' and 'Cheonggu Yeongeon,' are designated as national treasures, and four items, such as 'Samgang Haengsildo (Eonhae),' are designated as provincial tangible cultural heritage.
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