"Kkokkomu" marks the 15th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake by revealing the immense quake and tsunami that led to the Fukushima nuclear plant explosions, the worst disaster in human history.
On the 12th, SBS's "Tails of Tales" (directed by An Yoon-tae, Lee Keun-byeol, Kim Byung-gil; hereinafter "Kkokkomu") aired the "2011: the disappeared city — Great East Japan Earthquake" episode, with Forestella's Ko Woo-Rim, actor Choi Jin-hyuk, and listener Billy Tsuki appearing as listeners to follow the memories of a disaster that has not ended even after 15 years.
Also, Kkokkomu recorded a household rating of 3.0% and a 2049 rating of 1.0%, proving strong power as the 1st in its time slot and 1st among Thursday variety and current affairs programs. (Nielsen Korea, metropolitan area)
On March 11, 2011, when Japan experienced the largest earthquake ever recorded there, chaos erupted in an instant. The intense shaking that lasted about five minutes shifted land masses, altered the coastline and even wobbled the earth's axis. Shortly after roads split and buildings collapsed, a black wall of water covered the coast. This time it was a tsunami about 40 meters high. The death toll reached about 16,000, and about 12,000 Koreans living in the Tohoku region at the time were also engulfed by fear.
Listener Tsuki recalled the disaster that day, saying, "I was in elementary school at the time. Class had ended and I was about to go home, but the school told us not to go home. It's still so vivid. The news I saw then was shocking."
A Korean man surnamed Ilgwang who lived in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, was preparing to work at home when disaster struck. A 6m tsunami warning sounded, but a wave far exceeding that height soon swept in. He was swept away holding his wife and lost consciousness. When he opened his eyes, he was inside a gymnasium filled with water. He barely held on by grasping a basketball hoop three meters high with his foot trapped in debris. Bodies floated nearby and the village was gone. Listener Choi Jin-hyuk sighed, "It must have been indescribably desperate," He added that the children miraculously survived but the wife never returned.
A Korean woman surnamed Gyeongim, 33 weeks pregnant, escaped holding her three children. Her husband, a volunteer firefighter, helped residents evacuate and never returned. As Choi Jin-hyuk said, "That sorrow must be indescribable," the disaster tore families apart. Tsuki cried, saying, "At the time there were many videos on social media of the tsunami rushing in and people shouting 'save us.' It was so shocking; I can't imagine how terrifying it was."
The catastrophe did not stop. Fuel leaked and set the sea on fire. Earthquake, enormous tsunami and massive fires occurred one after another within three hours of the quake. Listener Ko Woo-Rim shared the devastation, saying, "It feels like a trauma I will never forget."
But an even greater calamity awaited. A tsunami struck the Fukushima nuclear power plant as a result of the quake. External power was cut by the tsunami, and when emergency generators were flooded, a station blackout occurred. When cooling water stopped, fuel rods began to melt, leading to chain explosions from unit 1 to units 3 and 4. This nuclear accident led to the spread of radioactive materials, and the damage continues to this day.
Every year on March 11 at 2:46 p.m., Japan observes a moment of silence across the country to remember that day. Korean survivors who participated in Kkokkomu's interviews emphasized that sharing memories can save lives, moving viewers. Ko Woo-Rim said, "For someone it's a familiar daily life, but for someone else it's a longing for a time they can never have again, which is sad," and Tsuki said, "I should also tell people I love them more often," recalling family and loved ones.
After the broadcast, various social media and online communities were filled with enthusiastic responses such as, "Watching the broadcast made me feel like I couldn't breathe. It seemed like every disaster a human can experience happened at once," "It's scarier that it was a true story, not a movie," "The idea that an entire village disappeared is true terror," "It's so sad that a family vanished in an instant," "Being alive itself is a miracle," and "Stories like this must continue to be remembered."
Meanwhile, Kkokkomu is a program in which three storytellers study on their own and convey what they felt to their respective "story friends" one-on-one in the most ordinary spaces, and it airs every Thursday at 10:20 p.m. on SBS.
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