Relations with the North improved and a summit meeting was planned , but postponed indefinitely with the death of Kim Il-sung . Tensions varied between the two Koreas thereafter , with cycles of small military skirmishes and apologies . The government also carried out substantial financial and economical reforms , joining the OECD in 1996 , but encountered difficulties with political and financial scandals involving his son . The country also faced a variety of catastrophes which claimed many lives : a train collision and a ship sinking in 1993 , and the Seongsu Bridge and Sampoong Department Store collapses in 1994 and 1995 . These incidents were a blow to the civilian government
Seongsu Bridge
Seongsu Bridge
History of South Korea