Fire Destroys Seoul’s Namdaemun Gate

“People’s hearts will ache,” South Korea’s President-elect Lee Myung-bak said. Namdaemun was a South Korean national treasure, a 610-year-old wooden gate located at the center of Seoul. Police have arrested a suspected arsonist, a 70-year-old man identified only by his family name, Chae. Before the fire, Namdaemun looked like this:

Bottom photo by sean in japan, via Flickr (Creative Commons).

©2026 World Hum, All Rights Reserved