The Sewol: Ripple Effects
Photos by Joe Wabe and George A. Boyle.
The joint prosecution-police task force assigned to the Sewol case is not yet finished with its investigation, but the best information currently available points to unsafe and illegal business practices by the Chonghaeijin Marine Company, incompetence in the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS), and an underequipped Mokpo Coast Guard as the primary reasons why the MV Sewol ferry sank on April 16 and cost over 300 people their lives.
What has not yet been investigated – and what may in fact be impossible to know – is the cost of the country’s response to the tragedy. According to an April 22 article on The Korea Bizwire (“Korea in Collective Grief Affecting Whole Businesses After Ferry Disaster”), a genuine grief took hold of South Korea in a way that did not happen after the infamous collapse of the Sampoong Department Store in 1995 or the 2003 Daegu subway fire, both of which incurred comparable casualties. Immediately after the Sewol sank, people everywhere essentially stopped having fun; credit card transactions fell by 10 percent, movie attendance by almost one-third. All school trips were canceled.
This sudden self-enforced abstinence from recreation coincided with festival season, resulting in the cancelation of a large number of festivals scheduled around the country, especially during the long holiday weekend of May 3-6 – and although few people are openly saying so, not everyone agrees with that choice.
“As a teacher, I am certainly touched by what happened to these students,” explained one artist who would have participated in the Jeonju Hanji Festival. She asked for anonymity. “[But] to say that the cancellation of the festival upset me is a gross understatement. I was devastated… I worked extremely hard to get everything ready, spent countless hours making items and spent quite a bit of money on packaging and wrapping material, display tools, promotional material, etc.”
The artist also wonders about her fellow participants: “How about all the hanji craftsmen and craftswomen who have worked months to prepare the pieces for the National Hanji Contest? What happens to them; to their work?”
Of course, the participants are not the only ones to be affected by the cancellation of a festival, but also owners of local restaurants, shops, hotels and pensions in Jeonju. “Sometimes I feel that by choosing to cancel all cultural events because of the Sewol tragedy, Korea is now creating another type of tragedy: an economic tragedy that will jeopardize the local tourism economy.”
Though the cancellations were made out of respect for the victims, the artist believes there were other options. “I personally believe there was a way to pay our respects to those who lost their lives, and the families and friends who suffered a terrible loss, without radically cancelling everything. How about organizing a fund-raising activity in the context of the festival?”
A similar opinion was expressed by artist Hong Seong-il, who operates Nosan Clay Studio in Boseong, location of the also-canceled Green Tea Festival. Said Hong, “We could be helping. For example, Boseong has a marathon for the festival, but it was canceled. I think, we could just keep doing the marathon, [to honor] the Sewol victims … and make some event to give the winner prize to them.”
Hong pointed out the impact on his local economy too. “It’s the most famous festival in Boseong, [all] year. And it’s just canceled. So, all the preparing – so much money and so much hard work is wasted.”
Like many people, Hong’s grief over the disaster has turned to frustration with government over its handling of the situation, and this frustration is giving way to anger. Hong explains, “Most of the Korean people are angry. The Sewol accident is just an accident, it is not the government’s fault. But the government is always hiding the truth. Because they want to [hold onto] their power. It is the most important problem in Korea. It’s my opinion but many people have the same opinion as me…”
Indeed they do. After over a month, the country’s initial shock and grief has been channeled into a righteous fury directed not only at the people directly responsible for the deaths, but also at every factor perceived to have contributed to the existence of a world where a tragedy like the Sewol’s is possible. This is why President Park Geun-hye, despite realistically having nothing to do with the sinking of the ship, has seen her public approval rating plummet from 71% to well below 50% – a disastrous development for her party so close to election time. Not coincidentally, the gusts of popular feeling have been particularly strong here in Gwangju.
Yet however fair or unfair the current atmosphere may be to particular people, it should be understood that it is the reason why we can hope that the Sewol’s victims will not have died in vain. Few doubt that a less emotional response would result only in the prosecution of Chonghaejin and perhaps a few new, boat-related laws. What we are getting instead is a nationwide call for the prioritizing of safety over profit, a landmark development. In this issue’s interview with Gwangju News, former Human Rights Ambassador Dr. Park Kyung-seo himself states that he sees the ferry disaster as “a kind of historical turning point for the Korean people.”
If he is right, the recent costs in blood and treasure that Korea has suffered will be repaid many times over.