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Another crack found in Lotte Tower

November 4, 2014

Another crack was discovered on the ceiling of the eighth floor of Lotte World Tower, only a week after an incident on Oct. 30 when a man’s forehead was cut by a piece of metal that fell from the third floor of the newly-opened Lotte World Mall. (NEWSis)

By Jung Min-ho

Another crack was discovered on the eighth floor ceiling of the Lotte World Tower, adding to safety concerns over what will be the country’s tallest structure if finished.

According to a Lotte official Tuesday, the 50-centimeter crack was found in the fire-resistant material covering the ceiling of the Avenue L Hall on the eighth floor.

This came only a week after an incident on Oct. 30 when a man’s forehead was cut by a piece of metal that fell from the third floor of the newly-opened Lotte World Mall.

The Lotte official explained that the crack is “nothing serious” because it did not affect the concrete.

“It’s like a crack in your skin, not the bone,” the official told The Korea Times, asking not to be named. “Such a problem is found commonly in many other buildings. There is nothing to worry about.”

However, Choi Chang-sik, an architecture professor at Hanyang University in Seoul, said the crack needs to be inspected.

“The crack does not appear to be a serious problem. But it opened without having any additional weight on the ceiling, which might be a concern,” he said.

The building has long been plagued by safety issues since the company started building the 123-floor, 556-meter skyscraper in 2011. The construction is expected to be completed in 2016.

Two weeks ago, cracks were found on the fifth floor of the complex.

The company claimed that the cracks on the floor were “intentional” because they were part of the building’s décor. It noted that they would not affect the building’s stability.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government carried out a safety inspection and concluded that the cracks will not undermine its stability.

Last year, 98 cracks were found on the surface of the columns which form the building’s framework.

Lotte later hired building safety specialists and asked them to check the columns. After three days, they concluded that there were no safety concerns.