South Korean president's vow to raise Sewol fails to appease angry relatives
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Version 0 of 1. South Korea’s president has vowed to raise the Sewol , bowing to a key demand from victims’ relatives as they marked the first anniversary of the ferry disaster in which 304 people died – most of them schoolchildren. “I will take the necessary steps to salvage the ship at the earliest possible date,” Park Geun-hye said on Thursday during a brief visit to the southern island of Jindo – the closest landfall to the site where the vessel sank on 16 April 2014. The announcement to raise the 6,825-tonne vessel – at an estimated cost of between £64m ($91m) and £92m – failed to appease victims’ families, who boycotted an anniversary event to push their separate demand for a fully independent inquiry into the tragedy. The depth of anger remains considerable a year after the passenger ferry sank. While largely blamed on the ship’s illegal redesign and overloading, the accident also exposed deeper-rooted problems of corruption, lax safety standards and regulatory failings in South Korea. The overloaded ferry was carrying 476 people, including 325 students from the high school in Ansan, when it sank. Only 75 students survived. A total of 295 bodies were recovered from the ferry, but nine remained unaccounted for when divers finally called off the often treacherous search in November. The end of the search came as the captain who abandoned the ferry as it capsized was sentenced to 36 years in prison for gross negligence. The head of the ferry operator was later jailed for 10 years. Raising the Sewol could take up to 18 months. f Ansan, a city south of Seoul where the majority of those who died were from, was the focus of Thursday’s remembrance activities. Flags flew at half mast and yellow ribbons fluttered from trees and lamp posts across the city, where sirens blared at 10:00am local time (and residents bowed their heads for a minute’s silence and prayer. Despite torrential rain, thousands of mourners passed through a memorial hall containing hundreds of black-ribboned, flower-ringed portraits of the dead students from Danwon high school. Parents and other relatives sobbed and beat their chests as they left messages, stuffing animals and favoured snacks under the photos. “My son, I hope you’re happy up there. Mom misses you so much,” one message read. A giant screen showed a slideshow of family pictures below a large banner that read: “We’re sorry. We love you. We won’t forget.” Uniformed students from the school were among those who paid their respects. A formal memorial event had been scheduled for the afternoon in Ansan, but the victims’ families cancelled it, despite Park’s agreement to salvage the ferry. Yoo Kyung-geun, a spokesman for the families, said there was anger that the president had not given assurances regarding an independent inquiry, adding: “I’m afraid her words were just meaningless.” Public opinion has been largely supportive of the families, although some conservative groups say leftwing organisations have hijacked the cause in an effort to embarrass the government. The families of those still missing had spearheaded the calls for the ferry to be raised. “My heart still aches when I think of the nine people who are still under the cold water, and of their families,” Park said in Jindo. The president had intended to pay her respects at a special altar erected at the island’s harbour, but angry relatives had put up a barrier to block her access. The prime minister, Lee Wan-koo, was turned away at the entrance to the remembrance hall by victims’ families. There is widespread frustration among many South Koreans who see their government as having failed to improve safety standards and hold senior officials accountable for a disaster blamed in part on incompetence and corruption. “Nothing has changed,” the JoongAng daily said in an editorial on Thursday. Chosun Ilbo, which has the largest circulation, concluded that “the country remains unsafe”. Large crowds were expected to turn out later on Thursday for an evening candlelight vigil in central Seoul. |