Angry and Divided, South Korea Mourns On Anniversary of Sewol Ferry Disaster
Thousands
of mourners attend a rally to commemorate the first anniversary of the
Sewol ferry disaster that killed more than 300 passengers (most of them children), in central
Seoul April 16, 2015. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
By Ju-min Park and Sohee Kim
ANSAN, South Korea, April 16 (Reuters) – A day of mourning for the 304 victims of the Sewol ferry sinking was overtaken by acrimony on Thursday, as organizers called off a ceremony planned to mark its one-year anniversary to protest against the South Korean government’s response to the disaster.
The main group representing bereaved families said the government had let them down again by failing to announce by the anniversary a decision to raise the ship in hopes of finding the bodies of nine victims still missing.
The group’s leader also cited President Park Geun-hye’s decision not to attend the memorial service as a reason for calling it off. Instead, Park visited the southwestern port of Jindo, which had served as a makeshift morgue when the ferry sank on April 16 a year ago.
“We want to say how disappointed we are that the government and the president have made it impossible for the families to hold this memorial service,” the group’s leader, Yoo Gyoung-geun, announced outside the hangar-like structure that houses a memorial altar for the Sewol victims.
“They are going to have to take responsibility.”
The year since the ferry sank during a routine voyage from Incheon to Jeju island has been one of both grief and anger towards the government for the families of victims.
Park’s prime minister was booed off by an angry crowd when he tried to visit the memorial altar in Ansan, home of Danwon High School, which lost 250 of its students on a class trip.
Park was heckled in Jindo, where she paid her respects at the dock lined with yellow flags carrying messages for the victims against the backdrop of a windy sea.
She said the government would begin preparing to raise the 6,800-tonne submerged ship, her clearest indication of a plan to recover it. The families and political opponents have accused the government of dragging its feet.
“I earnestly ask that we step beyond the pain of the Sewol, overcome the adversity and trial and go on the road of creating a new country,” Park said.
In Ansan, a long line of mourners waited in the rain as an outdoor stage for the memorial and rows of chairs stood empty.
Some family members of the victims and groups supporting their cause held a gathering in central Seoul late in the day, overseen by a heavy police presence which blocked them when they attempted to disrupt traffic and start marching on streets.
The Sewol set off on April 15 last year from Incheon, west of Seoul, for a routine overnight voyage to Jeju with 476 people on board. It capsized while making a sharp turn off Jindo.
It was later found to have been structurally unsound and overloaded, and many of the children followed instructions to stay in their cabins as the crew scrambled to safety in what was widely criticized as a botched rescue operation.
(Writing by Jack Kim; Editing by Tony Munroe and Paul Tait)
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.
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A lesson to learn
from the ferry disaster in South Korea
Posted by yeungjck
on November
26, 2014
Posted in: Criminal Law. 5
Comments
By Chung Pui
Ying
Background
On April 26, 2014,
Sewol capsized and sank on a routine voyage from Incheon to Jeju Island. 304
out of 476 passengers on board were confirmed dead or missing, and among 250 of
them were high school students who went on a school trip.
Causes of the heavy
casualties
Firstly, the ferry
was overloaded. The loosely-tied cargo exceeded twice the carrying limit, which
accelerated the sinking. Investigation also discovered that it was not the
first time that Sewol carried excess cargo to earn extra profit.
Secondly, the
interior design of Sewol was questionable. Since the vessel was renovated in
2013 to accommodate additional passengers in the top floor, the increased
carrying capacity may bring about the possibility of imbalance and top-heavy
during voyage.
Besides, the crew’s
craven and selfish actions of abandoning the vessel but telling passengers to
stay were widely criticized. It is believed that more passengers could have
been rescued if the captain could instruct the evacuation properly.
In addition, only an
inexperienced third mate was at helm when the accident happened, while the
captain was in his bedroom. In fact, a third mate could only navigate solely in
a safety sea area. Yet, the accidental sea area was one of the most dangerous
waters in South Korea, which meant the captain must accompany and direct the
sailor to guide the ship.
Relevant articles and the
verdict
Prosecutors sought
for death penalty according to Article 250, Criminal Act (Republic of Korea,
2005). It stated that a person who kills another should receive death penalty
or life imprisonment or more than five years.
However in November,
the captain was only found guilty of negligence and dereliction of duty, but
was acquitted of homicide. According to the judge, it could not be proved that
he realized his actions were causing more than 300 deaths. He was sentenced to
36 years imprisonment.
Only the chief
engineer was culpable of homicide and was sent to jail for 30 years. He was
accused of abandoning his two colleagues and not helping them to ask rescuers
for help, even though he knew his help would save their lives. The remaining
crew was convicted of various charges, sentenced up to 20 years in prison.
The CEO of
Chonghaejin Marine, Sewol’s company, was found guilty of allowing the
overloading of ferry and approving illegal refurbishment. He was sentenced to
10 years imprisonment.
Nevertheless, the
trial was not satisfying for the victims’ parents and relatives. For them, the
punishment was not harsh and deterrent enough.
Suggestions
Currently there is
no regulation in South Korea to monitor the modification in vessels. Ship
companies may make use of this loophole to refit ferry in order to increase
carrying capacity. It is suggested that the government could impose clear
guidelines and requirements on the modification regarding the safety issue to
protect passengers.
The crew’s reaction
clearly showed the lack of evacuation training and monitoring of navigation. It
is suggested that all crew members should be well-trained with evacuation
skills, and educated with morals and ethics. They should be selfless and put
passengers’ lives in front of theirs. Besides, the law should be strictly
followed. Sanctions should also be imposed on ship companies who disobey the
laws (Lawson; Weisbrod, 2005).
Conclusion
In short, this
massive ferry disaster is what all we don’t want to see. To avoid the reoccurrence,
South Korea government should review its navigation laws and regulations and
impose measures to improve the monitoring system. The misbehavior of the crew
members should be condemned but imprinted in people’s mind to prevent it from
happening again.
References
Borowiec, S. (2014).
Nearly 300 missing after South Korea ferry sinks. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved
from http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-south-korea-ferry-hundreds-missing-20140416-story.html
Jindo, M. M. (2014).
South Korea ferry disaster: third mate at wheel was navigating route for first
time. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/southkorea/10776250/South-Korea-ferry-disaster-third-mate-at-wheel-was-navigating-route-for-first-time.html
Lawson, C. T., &
Weisbrod, R. E. (2005). Ferry transport: the realm of responsibility for ferry
disasters in developing nations. Journal of Public Transportation, 8(4),
17.
McCurry, J. (2014).
South Korea ferry verdict: Sewol captain sentenced to 36 years in prison. The
Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/11/south-korea-ferry-verdict-sewol-captain-sentenced-to-36-years-in-prison
Park, M. (2014).
What went wrong on Sewol? CNN. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/15/world/asia/sewol-problems/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
Park, J. M. (2014).
South Korea court jails captain of doomed ferry for 36 years. Reuters.
Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/11/us-southkorea-ferry-idUSKCN0IV0CK20141111
Paula,
H., Catherine E. S., Michael, P. (2014). South Korean shipwreck survivors:
Passengers told ‘don’t move’ as ship sank. CNN. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/16/world/asia/south-korea-sinking-ship-students/
Reuters. (2014).
South Korea court sentences ferry operator chief to 10 years in jail. Retrieved
from http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/20/us-southkorea-ferry-idUSKCN0J40JP20141120
Republic of Korea.
(2005). Criminal Act. Retrieved from http://www.acrc.go.kr/file/file.do?command=downFile&encodedKey=MTIxXzE=
5 comments on “A
lesson to learn from the ferry disaster in South Korea”
In fact, this
incident has revealed an obvious loophole in the regulations on vessels’ safety
and the lack of training in evacuation and navigation. Regarding these major
problems, the government and the lawmakers are duty-bounded to strengthen and
further clarify the existing laws and the respective implementation.
Ambiguities have to be eliminated in order to send a clear message to relevant
parties about the importance of maritime safety management.
Moreover, training
sessions and assessment should be held more regularly so as to keep sailors and
cabin crew with updated skills and the readiness to due with any unexpected
situations. Unqualified members have to attend make-up courses in order to
return to his/her positions. I believe that strict supervision on the overall
working attitude will be effective to sieve out irresponsible people such as
those who sentenced to imprisonment.
In shorts, without
the co-operation between the executive and legislative branches, similar
scenarios will not be stopped from happening. Therefore, it’s time for the
country to move forward and reshape a secure sea together.
Some of the crew,
including the captain, were caught on videotape abandoning ship while the
children were told numerous times to stay put in their cabins where they
awaited further orders.
In addition to
reaction against the actions of the captain and much of the crew of the Sewol,
there has been a much wider political reaction to the disaster. Criticism has
ranged from anger at the lax regulatory environment which may have contributed
to the safety violations that could have sunk the Sewol, to anger about the
rescue operations, to anger at Park Geun-hye, the President of South Korea,
whose approval ratings have fallen from a high of 71 percent before the
disaster to “the 40 percent range” weeks afterwards.
Many parents of the
victims of the tragedy have been expressing deep anger at the government,
ranging from reportedly berating Prime Minister Jung Hong-won[283] to shouting
at President Park Geun-hye, to parents staging protests at the presidential
palace itself, partly inflamed by a reported remark by a senior news editor at
the government-influenced Korean Broadcasting System that the number of dead in
the ferry tragedy was “not many, compared with the number of people killed in
traffic accidents each year”.
I think what the
government can do is to prevent this incident happen again. Training provided,
legislation and regulation can be done better.
I spent most of my
life in South Korea, and had once lived in Ansan, where the victims’ high
school is located. After this tragic accident happened, the whole country was
utterly devastated, mourned together after the loss of more than 300 lives, mostly
high school students. Families of victims exploded with rage and heartbreaking
grief. Some people blamed government while others brought charges against
sailors and captain. The fact that this accident was entirely preventable made
the citizens weighted with sorrow. If Sewol was NOT overloaded, If cargo on the
ferry was properly secured, If ferry crews were educated properly on safety
protocol, If the captain did not abandon the shop, and if passengers were told
to move out of board. Then maybe this catastrophe would have never happened.
Sewol ferry sank was not a natural disaster, it was obviously a man-made
disaster. For this reason, people who found to have committed faults in the
process of trial must have charged with heavy sentence.
I am aware that
heavy imprisonment sentence cannot console victims’ families in grief for loss
of their beloved children, families. However citizens need to feel that there
must be justice in the country after all. We all must remember the time when we
lost our friends and families and this must not be veiled by an argument
whether the punishment is enough or not. This argument should have dealt
separately with our mourning for the victims. I may seem emotional but as a
citizen of Korea, I hope this accident will not be forgotten after tens of
years. Tragic history must not be repeated and this can only be done by
introspection and government effort to correct related laws and regulations.
Reference
I agree that the
penalty and punishment are not harsh enough especially for the captain, who was
acquitted of homicide. I think this judgment somehow having a mean of
disrespect to the 300 deaths. Moreover, it is irrational and unfair that the
accusation of the captain and chief engineer is indifferent as they were both
criminal of the accident. However, instead of exerting the sin to the crew
member, the corresponding ship company had the bear most of the
responsibilities.
Instead of blaming
the criminal, the most important thing to do is to prevent similar tragedy from
happening.
Firstly, it is
without doubt that captain should be well-trained and highly qualified.
Professional evacuating skills should also be taught to all crew members. For
the ship company, it is really shameful that having overloaded for earning more
profit. Therefore, all ship companies should learn a lesson from this accident
and ensure no more overload will be allowed in the future and regular
inspection and maintenance are required. For they passengers, they should be
taught the means for evacuations when they get on the ship such as watching
relevant videos. Lastly, for the government, advertisement can be made to
educate general public the evacuating skills and promote the ethical and moral
standards.
References: