결국 1980년대 후반 '석탄 산업 합리화'라는 태풍이 석탄 산업을 몰락시키면서 삼척의 역할은 역사 속으로 사라질 수밖에 없었다.
Eventually, in the late 1980s, a hurricane called the Rationalization of Coal Industry collapsed the coal industry, and Samcheok's role was forced to disappear into history.