Little Progress Made One Year After the Special Sewol Bill

The Special Sewol Bill, which aimed to initiate a thorough and independent investigation into the ferry disaster and take measures to prevent a recurrence, was legislated on November 7, 2014. However, almost no progress has been made in the year that has passed since then.

The government has been shirking the committee’s operations by delaying and cutting down on the needed budget for the Special Investigation Committee for the Sewol Ferry Disaster. After delaying the decision until July, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance allotted only half, 8.9 billion won, of the originally requested 16 billion won for the committee’s budget this year.

Next year’s budget, only 6.17 billion won, is one-third of the initially requested 19.87 billion won, which was allotted by the government. The government cut 4.89 billion won for the close examination of the salvaged Sewol Ferry, claiming that the operation overlapped with that of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

Even in fundamental operations, the government and the Special Investigation Committee for the Sewol Ferry Disaster seem to be in disharmony. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries made public announced the first underwater operation on August 19, but failed to collaborate with the Special Investigation Committee. Furthermore, a director has not yet been assigned, leaving the committee with no one in the core leadership position.

The term for the Special Investigation Committee for the Sewol Ferry Disaster ends on June 30 of next year, but the salvage operation of the Sewol Ferry continues.  An extension of the term for the Special Investigation Committee will be essential.

The article above is the summary and translation of an article published in the Kyunghyang newspaper on November 7, 2015.