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.