List of man-made disasters in South Korea

This is a partial list of man-made disasters in South Korea since the Korean War. It includes events that have a Wikipedia entry and other events mentioned in a reputable source

Year	Date	Location	Number killed	Type	Description	Reference
1953	5 January	en route from Yeosu to Pusan	229	Maritime accident	Sinking of ferry MV Changgyeong	^[1]
1969	11 December	Departed from Gangneung Air Base	0	Terrorism	Hijacking of South Korean domestic flight	Korean Air Lines YS-11 hijacking
1971	27 November	Kimpo	6	Mass murder	Killing spree by South Korea marine	List of rampage killers in Asia
1971	28 December	Seoul	164	Fire	Deadliest hotel fire in South Korean history	Daeyeonggak Hotel fire
1972	15 December	en route from Seogwipo to Busan	323 to 326	Maritime accident	Sinking of ferry Namyoung-Ho	Sinking of Namyoung-Ho
1974	3 November	Seoul	64	Nightclub fire	-	List of nightclub fires
1975	August to October	Various	17	Serial killing		Kim Dae-doo
1977	11 November	Iksan, North Jeolla	56 to 59	Explosion	Accidental detonation of a munitions train	Iri Station explosion
1980	15 November	Gimpo International Airport	15	Aviation accident	Pilot error on landing due to bad weather	Korean Air Lines Flight 015
1980	18-27 May	Gwangju	187	Pro-democracy demonstrations	Demonstrations opposing the Coup d'état of May Seventeenth	Gwangju Uprising
1982	6 February	Jeju International Airport	53	Aviation accident	Crashing of military plane from bad weather	February 1982 Korean Air Force C-123 accident
1982	18 March	Busan	1	Arson	Arson attack on US target	Busan American Cultural Service building arson
1982	18 April	Uiryeong County	25	Fire	Accidental fire in a club, fire escapes chained shut	List of nightclub fires
1982	26-27 April	Uiryeong County	57	Mass murder	Shooting spree by a former marine	Uiryeong Spree Killing
1986-1988	October 1986 - August 1988	Seoul	5	Serial killing	Poisonings with potassium cyanide	Kim Sun-ja (serial killer)
1986–1991		Hwaseong	15	Serial killing	Hwaseong serial murders	Lee Choon-jae
1986	5 April	Osan Air Base	16	-	Fire at a military fuel depot	^[2]
1986	14 September	Gimpo International Airport	5	Terrorism	Bombing of airport by North Korea	Gimpo International Airport bombing
1991	26 March	Daegu	5	Mass murder	Unsolved homicide of 5 boys	Frog Boys
1993	28 March	Gupo station	78	Train derailment	Unauthorized tunneling under causing track to collapse
1993	26 July	Mokpo Airport	69	Aviation accident	Pilot error leading to controlled flight into terrain	Asiana Airlines Flight 733
1993	10 October	offshore near Buan County	292	Maritime accident	Sinking of ferry in bad weather	Sinking of MV Seohae
1993-94		South Jeolla	5	Serial killing	Serial killing against the rich; cannibalism	Chijon family
1994	21 October	Seoul	32	Structural failure	Collapse of section of bridge from faulty weld	Seongsu Bridge Disaster
1995	28 April	Daegu	101	Explosion	Construction accident leading to puncturing of gas pipe	1995 Daegu gas explosions
1995	29 June	Seoul	502	Structural failure	Department store collapse from structural overload	Sampoong Department Store collapse
1996	17 September – 5 November	Gangneung	40	Military confrontation	Infiltration of North Korean spy submarine resulting in casualties to both sides	1996 Gangneung submarine infiltration incident
1998	22 June	near Sokcho	9	Military confrontation	Sinking of damaged North Korean spy submarine under South Korean Navy control	1998 Sokcho submarine incident
1999	30 June	Hwaseong	23	Fire	Fire at children's summer camp dormitory	Sealand Youth Training Center Fire
1999	30 October	Inchon	54 to 65	Fire	Fire at illegal bar for underage drinkers	^[3]
1999-2000	June 1999 - April 2000	Various	9	Serial killing	Serial killing spree	Jeong Du-yeong
2000	October - December	North Jeolla Province	3	Serial killing	Serial killing or rape of minors	Kim Hae-sun
2002	15 April	near Busan	129	Aviation accident	Pilot error leading to controlled flight into terrain	Air China Flight 129
2003	18 February	Daegu	192	Arson	Suicide attack by setting fire to a subway train	Daegu subway fire
2003–04	September 2003 to July 2004	Seoul	20	Serial killing	Killing spree of prostitutes and old men; cannibalism	Yoo Young-chul
2004–06	January 2004 to April 2006	Gyeonggi Province	15	Serial killing	Serial killing spree	Jeong Nam-gyu
2005–08	October 2005 to December 2008	Ansan	10	Serial killing	Serial killing spree of women due to lust	Kang Ho-sun
2008	10 February	Seoul	0	Arson	Arson to historic Namdaemun gate	2008 Namdaemun fire
2008	20 October	Seoul	6	Mass murder	Arson and stabbing attack	Nonhyeon-dong massacre
2008	7 January	Icheon	40	Fire	Fire in warehouse under construction	^[4]
2010	26 March	offshore near Baengnyeongdo	46	Military confrontation	North Korean attack	ROKS Cheonan sinking
2011	28 July	crashed near Jeju Island	2	Aviation accident	Crash resulting from fire in aircraft's cargo	Asiana Airlines Flight 991
2011 - 2014		Pocheon	3	Serial killing	Killing of relatives with herbicides for money	Pocheon poisonings
2014	16 April	en route from Inchon to Jeju island	304	Maritime accident	Sinking of ferry from crew error and overloading	Sinking of MV Sewol
2014	2 May	Seoul	0	Subway accident	Rear-end collision	2014 Seoul subway crash
2014	21 June	Gangwon	5	Mass murder	Rampage by a South Korean soldier	Goseong killing spree
2014	17 October	Seongnam	16	Structural failure	Ventilation grate collapse at K-pop concert	^[5]
2015	25-27 February	Sejong City and Hwaseong	8	Mass murder	Two separate mass murder-suicides two days apart	2015 Sejong and Hwaseong shootings
2015	6 September	offshore near Chuja	18	Maritime accident	Fishing boat lost in heavy seas	Sinking of Dolgorae
2017	21 December	Jecheon	29	Fire	Electrical fire in a gym	^[6]
2018	20 January	Miryang	5	Fire	Arson attack on a hotel	^[7]
2018	26 January	Miryang	41	Fire	Unknown cause; lack of sprinklers	Miryang hospital fire
2018	June	Gunsan	5	Fire	Arson	^[8]
2018	19 August	Inchon	9	Fire	Fire in an electronics factory	^[9]
2018	9 November	Seoul	7	Fire	Fire caused by electric stove overheating	^[10]
2020	29 April	Icheon	39	Fire	Fire in a warehouse under construction	2020 Icheon fire
2021	9 June	Gwangju	9	Arson	Construction error during demolition	2021 Gwangju building collapse
2022	29 October	Seoul	156	Crowd crush	Crushing the crowd during Halloween festival	Seoul Halloween crowd crush
2022	29 December	Gwacheon	5	Fire	-	Second Gyeongin Expressway tunnel fire

References

1. "창경호, 다대포서 침몰... 229명 사망" [Changgyeong sank at Dadaepo... 229 died] (in Korean). Kyeonggi.com. 9 January 2012.
2. Siekert, Alexis (8 April 2013). "Osan community remembers those fallen in 1986 fuel explosion". 51st Fighter Wing, USAF. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
3. "54 Die in Fire at Youth Hangout in South Korea". The New York Times. 31 October 1999. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
4. Paik, Kathy; Sohn, Jie-ae. "Warehouse blaze claims 40 lives". CNN. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
5. "Many dead in collapse at South Korea 4Minute concert". BBC. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
6. "South Korea fire at public gym and sauna kills 29". BBC. 21 December 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
7. "5 killed in suspected arson attack in Seoul motel". Korea Herald. Yonhap. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
8. Ji-Won, Choi (29 November 2018). "Court sentences arsonist to life imprisonment over fatal bar fire". Korea Herald. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
9. "9 workers killed, 4 injured in electronics factory fire". Korea Herald. Yonhap. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
10. "Fire kills at least 7 at dormitory-style housing in S. Korea". Chicago Tribune. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2021.