straight up if u have a kid and they start pointing at someone who is invisible, bleeding, and telling them to leave; you leave. u take the kid and run.

I always hate that the rescuers get ptsd and have intense guilt and these powerful people who are responsible for the disaster act so indifferent. UNBELIEVABLE

What you said about the rescuers morale reminded me of how the rescue dogs used after 9/11 got so depressed because they were finding so many dead bodies and almost no survivors that some of the first responders started pretending to be bodies in the rubble and letting the dogs find them just to give the dogs a “win”, while surrounded by so much death.

“I think I’m gonna go now” That broke my heart, I legit started crying

The fact that the owners decided to remove all the expensive stuff from the building but not evacuate just goes to show how little they cared about people's lives

7 years in prison is absolute crap. This man literally MURDERED 502 people. Someone can kill a single person and get 15 years and prison, this guy can commit FIVE HUNDRED AND TWO murders and get 7. This is extremely unacceptable given the fact it is completely his and his family’s fault.

The fact the government wouldn’t let them have a memorial at the site or park is absolutely insane and there is no way I’d wanna have anything to do with that building that was built in the same place.

The air conditioning wasn't actually broken. The vibrations of the roof units were putting additional stress on the structure and causing the visible cracks in the walls/ceiling to expand quicker, so management decided to turn them off... on their way out.

I was here in Seoul when the department store collapsed. I remember that between the initial rescues and Mr. Lee's rescue, they found a female survivor (around 7-8 days after the collapse, I think.). Rescuers tried to get her to an ambulance, but photographers blocked the way as they jostled each other to get the best shot. The survivor died on the way to the hospital because of these jackals who slowed her transport to the ambulance and to the hospital.

My grandma is actually a survivor from this incident so this case really does hit close to home. I can’t imagine I almost lost my grandma over some calculating cheapness.

Dude, the families trying to find their loved once in the rubble at the dump sight actually made me cry. I am so sorry for the mothers,fathers,sisters,brothers,uncles,aunts,grandpas,grandma's, ANYONE who lost someone they loved.

For anybody wondering; Trapped 11 days: Choi Myeong-seok Trapped 13 days: Yu Ji-hwan Trapped 17 days: Park Seung-hyun

When the employee said to Michael "I think I'm going to go now, please tell my family I love them" I got literal chills. So tragic.

I was actually working in Korea at the time. My student was upset that I ended class late that day. He returned the next day thanking me because he was supposed to go to that department store but was late. He narrowly escaped being crushed. It was a true tragedy. Everyone was glued to the TV trying to see who would be rescued, if any.

“This is one of those thing you always figure will happen to someone else” “Unfortunately, we’re all ‘someone else' to someone else”

I had the mindset of “it wouldn’t happen to me” or “ it wasn’t my family “ but after hearing alot of story’s this one kinda made me realize to have more compassion for other people’s lost.

They killed 502 people and they get 7 years? Horrible. I can’t even imagine being an attorney and defending this before going to sleep with myself. Gross. Edit: EVERYONE in the comments are telling me I shit on the attorney. First of all I said that I personally couldn't do it myself. And second of all, apparently defending murder is only ok when you are being paid to do it? Attorney's are cool but not when it's about telling the family of 502 people that lost their life due to negligence and greed that what their murderer did was "not a big deal" fight in the reply I guess.

When you said they began moving valuable items out 4 hours before the collapse, rather than getting the people to leave, that actually made me gasp. They were concerned enough to get their valuables out, but not the people. It just shows you how little regard the Lee family had for human life. Absolutely despicable.

So, they were making $400,000 a day and that's why they didn't evacuate? With 542 dead, that's around $738 per human life lost. This guy legitimately put a price on those innocent people and decided his business was worth more.

if a child is saying they see something strange, you leave. YOU RUN. this case just made my heart drop for the first time.. Disgusting.

That judgment of only 7 years is criminal. They should receive a life sentence. This is horrible.

My father was at work during that day of collapse, and about an hour before it collapsed, he noticed the ceiling and floor at the restaurant near the 4th floor had numerous cracks that seemed strange and the ventilations were off. He didn’t feel okay with staying there and just left to eat somewhere else. My mom on the other hand who was supposed to pick up our clothes at dry cleaners in the mall happened to be sick so she decided not to go on that day. This mall used to be our usual spot to visit back then. The owner of this building used his ways to break numerous codings and laws by lying to the people and killed many lives on that day.

This is exactly the kind of thing that happened with Rana Plaza in Bangladesh in 2013, except it was garment manufacturing and over 1,000 died. So heart breaking that greed can take so many lives.

The greed in this man has got to be some of the worst ever known to mankind. The fact that he’s a multimillionaire yet he’s so worried about saving on building costs knowing it could lead to danger and death, is absolutely sad and wild.

My mom was there the day before the mall collapsed when she was pregnant with me. It’s scary to think what could’ve happened.

I'm from Southeast Asia and the description of the kid seeing spirits/ghosts sitting on people's necks sent CHILLS down my spine. Here, we have a superstition that if you see spirit sitting on someone's neck , it is an omen of death or a sign that something bad is going to happen.

49:50 "the girls are at there shopping" i literally can't imagine how he felt at that moment - even i felt a shiver and an unnamable emotion....

as someone with ADHD, i absolutely LOVED how you narrate stories. It grabs my attention because of how captivating it is. I usually never even last 15 minutes into a podcast/video because I get off track easily. Such a sad and traumatic story. The woman who will never get to see her daughter turn 31 had me sobbing in my school parking lot 😔💔

The story of the three people trapped trying to comfort one another and two of them dying made me tear up.

My mom was nearly a victim of this, she was only a teenager when it happened, and my late grandmother thought she was in the store but she had left a few hours before, my grandmother already started to mourn when my mom didnt answer her pager

"I think im gonna go now, please tell my family i love them" is so heartbreakingly sad.

The way that the expensive and luxury goods sold at the mall were considered by Lee family members to be worth more than human lives is so sickening.

Hell to the no, if my child said those things, I would've left SOOOO FAST! thank you for keeping us informed and for your story telling skills.

My dad was supposed to meet someone for a meeting over coffee in that mall. He was on his way to leave for the meeting when he received an email saying that there was a change of plans, the meeting was going to be at a different location in the opposite direction of the mall. If it wasn't for the email, my dad could've been a victim himself. I could've never been born. It's crazy to think about how my dad's fate was determined by a mere email. Korea still needs to change many of their laws in regards to white collar crimes so that tragedies like these never happen in the first place.

Hearing everyone rescue Michael made me want to cry. What a tragic case, but so glad they were able to save those they did. Tons of respect to everyone who came forward to help.

This guy only got 7 years?! WHAT THE FUCK?! That makes no sense! There are serial killers who got death sentences or life without parole and got 7 years?! And only because the wives and children of wealthy men were killed?! I have no words.

It is so crazy how greed caused such a disaster. The families can never be paid enough for the tragedy they endured.

Being cheap is expensive. My heart breaks for the victims and their families. Such a tragedy.

The father who lost all three of his girls in the collapse really gets to me for some reason. I couldn't imagine how devastated he and the other families felt. Also, how in the hell did the owner not get a longer sentence?! His actions cost 502 people their lives. He deserves the worst.

You did something that no horror movie in twenty five years, and an endless barrage of horror stories and horror podcasts haven't managed to do: You actually gave me literal chills up my spine with the way you told the little kid seeing the ghosts. Just the way you described bloody people crawling "up" from somewhere to climb up people who couldn't see or feel them, it's genuinely terrifying.

"My daughter turned 30 this year..." My heart dude. That just really solidified how truly heartbreaking this entire disaster was. That poor mother never got to see her turn 31.

…as someone with an architecture degree, the descriptions of what was going on during the construction and design of that mall will be giving me nightmares just as much as the following disaster. INDUSTRY STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS HAVE A REASON.

“It’s alright, columns are strong!” I have never heard a bigger lie…

This is scaring me so bad because I live on the fourth floor of a 5 story condo building. All I can about now is how there are like 30 units with furniture, heavy appliances, bathtubs, all this stuff, right over my head. I never considered any of that before 😭

Today, I found out my grandmother died from this accident. My mom said she always went to that store, and she hasn't spoken about her since. My mom was about to turn 20 when the accident happened. Thanks of the information about what happened during the accident.

My family and I were in the department store few hours before the collapse. My mom felt something was off with how hot and humid it was inside and took me and my siblings home. At the time of the collapse, I was few hundred yards away at the kindergarten playground (I was about 8yo) when I heard a large boom followed by dust and debris flying everywhere. I ran towards the sound (very stupid & unsafe) and saw people completely covered in dust and blood running out. Thank you for your thorough research. May the victims rest in peace. Wishing the survivors healing from this traumatic tragedy.

My dad was an architect and he was AT THE SCENE (on the stairs area, the only part of the building that was still standing) and saw the person got rescued after people gave up to search for more. He was there to see if the remaining parts of the building would collapse.

Sometimes i wish your videos were just 10 minutes so i can know everything faster but i also love how you tell us everything. You tell us about the victims, their stories and their families and you explains things with examples to help us understand and its amazing. You truly advocate for every victim and make sure their stories are told. I would never have known about this if i hadn't found your channel

The mother saying "No, no, the day she dies is that day I die" really hit me with the realization of how many people must have been waiting there for their beloved ones. Their survival was extremely unlikely, but the fact that one person had gotten out was a sign that there would definitely be more people alive in there. Imagine the terror people felt when they started using the heavy machinery, risking crushing anyone that remained strong and got trough all that for so long. Just imagining someone I love being in that situation scares me so much that I know I would go insane after the first few days, I would dig in there by hand till the three weeks mark is over.

The father that lost all his children and donated to their favorite charities made my eyes water. Fulfilling their dreams before he goes made me sad but is so honorable. I hope all 502+ souls are at peace. It should have never happened

That apartment building in Florida that collapsed during the pandemic also collapsed because they added an extra level during construction that wasn’t supposed to be there. If only construction crews and architects would learn from each other’s mistakes, then maybe they’d realize that the money they save in building costs will be paid in blood later on…

The way this is narrated is beautiful, really puts you in the scene... i think i teared up at least 5 times

The father's story made me tear up, ran all the way to the site and dig through rubble with his hands, I can only imagine the pain, the small shimmer of hope that they could be at any hospital. This is a tragedy that should never ever happen again.

The story about the father and his daughters, the blind one who did the unthinkable, tore my heart in half

This story just reminded me of the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed around a thousand workers. Corporate Greed and Bad Architecture has truely killed so many 😞

Ive heard about this disaster before, but the way you relayed it really brought home the magnitude of the whole situation. Thank you for your telling!

As someone who survived 9/11 I am sitting here crying. I pray for every family that went through this horrific ordeal

As an architect, I loved your simplification of the parts of the structure and why it failed. Tears are coming from the families, and from the ignorance and lack of awareness of Lee from making a literal killing estructure.

imagine how many more victims there would have been had the A/C actually been functioning...

What an incredibly tragic & horrific story. I had never heard of this until today! I live in South Florida & was reminded of the collapse of the building in Surfside. Although the government has agreed to make a memorial at a nearby area, they have plans to construct a new building on the site. It feels so disrespectful and all of these souls were lost on this spot… but it is waterfront property so greed seems to have won. (Although as of this week there is still the rubble of the foundation of the building in the spot). Thank you for your research and sharing this! Thinking of everyone that was lost that day 🤍

from what I can tell, the whole sleeping thing during incidents like this is pretty common. I've heard a couple stories about people getting trapped in caves doing the same thing. sleep, wake up, scream, repeat. I think it's the body conserving energy, you tire yourself out so quickly by worrying and screaming that your body just shuts down and conserves energy by sleeping.

The fact that it was even a debate to evacuate the mall makes my stomach turn. Disgusting. Thank you for this informative and moving story. The way you shared the stories of those impacted truly put this story of greed in full perspective.

Thank you for not cutting out on details, from the infrastructure to the victim's survival testimony, I think that it is important to know as much as much so that we can truly grasp how much of a tragedy this was. Thank you for work!! I pray the victim's are in a better place, and that their families can find peace

I love that your videos are so in depth and I get to learned more about construction and architecture along with the crazy stuff people do. Keep on these good work ❤

I’m an engineer by education. Sampoong Mall collapse was our study material. I’ve devoured many videos and materials regarding this collapse and this astoundingly callous indifference of the owners. But most of what I learned about talked about the tragedy in a mechanical sense. The increased weight of the fifth floor, how flat slab construction pancakes when it fails, how HVAC vibration aggravates the cracks creating the conditions for failure, etc. I have never heard this story retold emphasizing the human angle as much as how Steph does it. From this jaded older millennial engineer’s heart, I thank you. Here is one angle I could add to the story: one of the contributors to this collapse was, ironically, due to a safety feature. By law in Korea, malls are required to have fireproof shutters enclosing the escalators. However what this entails in Sampoong was cutting into the support beams to make space for the shutters. The same beams that were already thinned and definitely have way less internal strength to support the upper floors, and now a portion of it was *cut* . Oh and by the way Lee Joon originally called Woosung to construct an *apartment complex* , not a shopping mall. The dead load (weight carried without any person in the structure) calculations alone would be drastically different, and this is BEFORE the fifth floor, before the restaurants, before the heated floors for the Korean-style sit down restaurants, and before the HVAC units, and definitely before the thinned beams and support. Had Lee Joon gone with Woosung’s original plan, the safety factor was over 2. Meaning it would be so strong it could carry twice the original spec load without failing. But as they say, money talks. Until a building collapses and 500 people dies. Then, and only then, perhaps there will be a reckoning to satisfy the howls and cries of the wronged. Sadly, as time would prove, money talks louder still…

If you set the utter tragedy aside, the level of absolute criminal negligence to cut every single corner possible and make the place appear to be 'high end' and 'luxury' while actually being a trashy death trap,... is impressive. The mind absolutely boggles.

I’m so thankful you do these stories from other countries. My heart goes out to everyone who lost a loved one, or who lives with the ptsd of this tragedy.

Man I have heard this story told 5-6 different times over the years and I have to say this is by far the best and most in depth that I have been able to watch. I thoroughly enjoy the back and forth dialogue you have with your cohost that makes this feel more like a conversation than a story telling and the emotions you display are far more accurate I think to how someone would retell it if they or a loved one had been there. You truly bring life to the stories you are telling and I think that’s important as a way to honor the victims of this tragedy. Anyone can tell a story and have it sound good. Few can tell a story and make you feel it too. Good job. ❤

After listening to so many of stephanie's podcasts, so many deaths are due to corruption, greedy individuals/corporations, scapegoating, government/worker incompetence, and turning a blind eye to problems that can be prevented. this is so heartbreaking that innocent people have to suffer for this, including kind hearted samaritans that help in the rescue efforts.

when you said the families felt jealousy watching other families finding their surviving family members, i broke down in tears. i can totally imagine feeling jealous knowing my 2 boys were dead while others were finding their children. i totally get it

From the ferry incident to the seoul crowd incident to this mall incident, you would think the gov learn a thing or two

You told this story so well! Incredible. ❤

The “I’m going to go now,tell my family I love them” hit hard…that’s heartbreaking…I almost cried in that I wish their families well and the families of the people who died well RIP to everyone that died 🕊️🪦

This was honestly the most bizarre thing I ever heard. Lee didn’t wanna pay for more safety things in his mall? Greed is ugly. The crazy part is he is/was wealthy. Yet he couldn’t “afford” more things to ensure safety of the mall? Just wow. The fact his daughter was in the mall when collapsed. He is truly a disgusting selfish man. I’m glad he got 7 years in jail. Although he deserved a life time

You are an AMAZING story teller! Your pace and tone are exceptional!

Thank you! You are an amazing storyteller! Such a heartbreaking event.

It is just absolutely disgusting that this could've been avoided so many times. They had so many warnings. Unbelievable negligence and greed in that family. The part about deciding to move in restaurants and heavy AC tanks gave me chills. They made this happen and gave people no chance to escape. There should've been a memorial there at the VERY LEAST.

The dedication of the victims' family is both incredible and heartbreaking when hearing about the searches. The man who ran on foot to the rubble of the store in his work suit to claw away at the rubble for his three daughters absolutely broke my heart.

Phenomenal storytelling -- perfect blend of suspense, pathos, horror, rage, even humor, in 73 high-tension minutes without a wasted second. Just ... wow!

Very well explained. Especially the design flaws. Thank you.

The parents who lost 3 daughters' story is so damn sad man, I hope the best for them.

Of all the murder/mystery/crime documentaries, this one and the ferry full of children are just triggering in a way I can’t explain. Like awful phobias I didn’t know I had triggering a past life trauma or some shit. There’s no way I can even comprehend being in that situation, especially the 11 days of silence in the dark basement.

I never would have known of this tragic event but I randomly came across one of your videos which led me eventually to watch this one. This story brought me to tears. It was heartbreaking but also at times truly awe inspiring and beautiful due to the heroics of all those involved in the rescue efforts. I wish that you never had to tell it but thank you for sharing nonetheless. 💔 Keep doing what you’re doing. Much respect. ❤

Thank you for sharing….I visibly saw how much sharing that was affecting you. A terrible thing to have happened all over greed. It’s a sad world sometimes 😢

"i think im gonna go now" sobbing omg rest in peace to all the victims 🕊️

I just graduated with 2 degrees in civil & mechanical engineering. As you were listing all changes in concrete & column design, I was screaming my head off because that is crazy. When he fired the engineers, i knew it would end ugly. I can't believe plan checkers took bribes & let that thing go up. I don't even have a professional license & I wouldn't take a cent. I mean, it was honestly just took a few typical hand calcs from a college level concrete design class to tell u that place would fall. My professional field experience has always been in HVAC mechanical design in buildings. I also have experience in plumbing engineering design. We would always contact structural team when we were putting even a typical RTU. We actually would specify equipment weight in the roof plan so the structural could see if it would hold. also made sure sometimes that it was mounted on a beam for more support. not just unsupported parts of the ceiling. especially for such massive units. This guy's stamp should not have been accepted & any engineer should be horrified to put their stamp on those plans. Every engineer should've said no. But it seems he also changed the previous plans & went off-script so engineers would be in court about that. if they stamped anything like the thin columns crap, they should hang. We know better than to stamp things like that. Very good video! I will honestly recommend it to my university professors to show at least the construction explanation in first semester engineering courses to show what exactly could go wrong when cutting corners & recommend showing, arguably, some of the tragic situations to help develop ethics, which we learned in our first semester & civil engineering students learn in one of their first upper division courses for construction management.

This is so horrible. I don't remember ever hearing about this disaster. Those rescuers are true heros! My heart hurts for all those victims and their loved ones. So sad.

It's like a movie. The executives in the next building arguing about closing the mall and the guys on the roof rushing down to evacuate as it collapses. So many missed opportunities. So disgusting. What a tragedy

The part about the families going to the dump sites to search for their loved ones is so tragic. This whole tragedy is such a mess. I hope the survivors were able to heal or are healing now. So sad.

I love that you told some of the victim's stories, it really puts into perspective the fact that each number was a person. A full person with a life, dreams, families. Hearing "500 victims" already sounds like a lot, but hearing at least 1 story about 1 victim makes it so... personal. Greed is an ugly thing. It's crazy that they knew that the building was collapsing and chose to save the valuable items and have a meeting instead of evacuating right away. Truly cruel and heartbreaking

I'm so glad KZfaq suggested your channel. You're such a great storyteller!

Thank you so much for going into great detail about this horrific tragedy & how much care and compassion you’ve shown to this event. The greed, carelessness and cruelty shown by the owner of the mall is truly astounding and horrifying.

The part where you kept listing reasons why the building was unstable just kept making my heart sink further and further.

This was so so heartbreaking. It reminded me of a similar tragedy that happened in my country Bangladesh. The tragedy was called "Rana Plaza Tragedy" which killed 1,134 Bangladeshi garment workers. We mourn the deaths every year, and it still breaks my heart remembering all the poor souls that lost their lives because of a heartless bastard who built extra floors on the building that wouldn't be able to support it

A+ narration. I don't cry for much, and certainly never for Hollywood, but you got a couple tears to come through. Way to build a story 👌👌

Thank u . u have bring this story a lots of honor we have hear of this briefly . but we have never hear it complete like today

A similar collapse happened to an ocean front condo in Miami not too long ago. It pancaked from bad construction and punched through as well. Don't ignore cracks in ceilings and parking garages. Don't ignore water damage. Those are major red flags! It's disgusting that some people only worry about their wallet. So many lives have been lost and destroyed over greed.

As a civil engineer listening to all the cost saving measures he did to the building made me audibly seethe in anger and pain. WHY would anyone do something like that the money saved is relatively small it's not even worth it!!!!

@rottenmangopod Thank you for sharing this story! I had never heard of this before.

Amazing story telling... I found this video after seeing a small clip on a tiktok. I'm a licensed civil engineer in the US (but not a structural engineer), and I had not heard of this. Hearing about all of the engineering changes made me nauseous with anxiety and anger. Structural engineering isn't something you can just mess with... failures can be small or they can take the lives of hundreds in an instant. Heartbreaking...