Main content

South Korea store collapse and Lady Gaga's meat dress

The Sampoong disaster in Seoul that killed 502 people and injured more than 900 provoking national outrage, and when Lady Gaga wore a dress made of beef to the MTV Awards.

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week鈥檚 Witness History stories.

In 1995, the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store in the South Korean capital, Seoul, killed and injured hundreds of people. Explaining the impact it had on urban planning is Dr Youngmi Kim, senior lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

Also, the speech President John F Kennedy made at the height of the Cold War on 26 June 1963. It galvanised the world in support of West Berliners who had been isolated by the construction of the Berlin Wall.

From the archive, Dr Jean Jacques Mueyembe and Dr David Heymann worked to bring the first documented outbreak of Ebola under control in 1976.

Plus, Budapest's communist statue 'graveyard' which opened in 1993.

Finally, when Lady Gaga accepted an MTV Video Music Award in a dress made entirely out of beef.

Contributors:

Sun Minh Lee on the Sampoong Department Store disaster
Dr Youngmi Kim, senior lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Edinburgh
Gisela Morel-Tiemann on the Ich Bin Ein Berliner speech
Dr Jean Jacques Mueyembe and Dr David Heymann on Ebola
Judit Holp on Memento Park
Franc Fernandez on Lady Gaga's meat dress

(Photo: US military troops and South Korean army soldiers look for survivors in the rubble of the collapsed Sampoong Department Store. Credit: Getty Images)

Available now

51 minutes

Last on

Mon 3 Jul 2023 23:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 1 Jul 2023 13:06GMT
  • Mon 3 Jul 2023 09:06GMT
  • Mon 3 Jul 2023 23:06GMT

Podcast