130 Days Later: The Sewol Ferry Disaster

En route to Jeju Island from Incheon, the Sewol Ferry sank before 8:50 a.m. on April 16, 2014, near Jindo in South Jeolla. There were 476 people on the ferry, including 325 second-grade students from Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, who were on a school excursion. The tragic disaster left 294 people dead and as of this date, 10 people are still missing.

At the outbreak of the accident – around noon on April 16, 2014 – the media announced that most of people on the ferry, other than one or two passengers, had been rescued. This report turned out to be completely false. The evening news broadcast on the same day revealed there were still over 300 people on the ferry waiting to be rescued.

On the day after the accident, the media reported that the ferry had sent a distress call and that it had remained afloat, listing heavily, for 90 minutes after that call. The media also stressed that because of the Coast Guard’s imprudent judgment and its irresponsibly slow reaction, the rescue effort was delayed by an hour, thus preventing the rescuing of more people from the ferry.

Korean people shed tears out of desperation and anger on hearing the news that passengers had been repeatedly instructed by crew members to remain on board. The crew members themselves evacuated and abandoned the sinking ferry. Text messages, Kakaotalk messages and video clips sent by students who remained on the ferry infuriated people even more, leading some to mental breakdowns. Seemingly everyone in Korea offered condolences. The government suspended all school trips, festivals and TV entertainment programs.

Victims’ families have been making efforts ever since to seek the truth about the disaster. They are requesting the enactment of a special law to guarantee sufficient time for the investigation. They are also seeking the establishment of a special committee with the right to investigate and prosecute anyone considered responsible for any misdemeanors in connection with the disaster. To emphasize their diligence, many of the bereaved have gone on a hunger strike in front of the parliament building. Kim Yeong-oh was taken to the hospital by ambulance after 40 days huger strike and many more are walking the 750 kilometers (470 miles), each with a cross upon their shoulders, from Ansan, Gyeonggi Province all the way to Paengmok Harbor –near where the ferry sank – on Jindo Island.

With the passage of time, the world’s attention has naturally redirected toward other affairs. However, in Korea we still see yellow stalls and banners, and people demonstrating. Candlelight meetings still take place all over the country, especially in Gwangju. People refuse to forget.

Weekly rallies normally begin in front of the Gwangju Court in Jisan-dong. This protest lasts for an hour, starting at 9 AM on Tuesdays. During this hour, both streets are decorated with yellow, and the lines of people, using yellow umbrellas and holding banners or boards, line both sides of the street.

After the rally that I attended, I was fortunate enough to get in touch with Mr. Lee Min-cheol, a leader of a youth organization who is the chief mourner of the Gwangju Citizens’Mourners for the Sewol Ferry Disaster Victims.

The Gwangju People of Sangju

Mr. Lee told me that The Gwangju People of Sangju (The Gwangju Citizens Chief Mourner Meeting) were originally a group of people who attended candlelight meetings in Gwangju. They had decided to hold a demonstration in front of the court for the duration of the trial for the Sewol’s captain and the crew. This action is currently taking place at the court, so I went there with them. While I was there, two buses carrying victims’ families approached. As they came nearer, The Gwangju People of Sangju formed a human chain with pickets and umbrellas, to urge the government to seek the truth and to show their support for victims’ families.

Mr. Lee had originally thought the timing of the rallies to be unfortunate, because early-to-midmorning is during office hours, and housewives are usually busy getting their children ready for school before 10am. He expected a low number in participants. On the first day, however, the rally attracted 150-200 people. Every week since, the numbers have kept growing. 400 arrived on the day I participated.

The Gwangju People of Sangju believe the investigation is a matter that cannot be solved in a short period of time, so they are determined to help the Sewol victims and their families for the next three years. Three years of support is of course a Korean custom, traditionally following three days of funeral rites.

The group is also planning to participate in the upcoming Gwangju Biennale as citizen artists, and they will transform the Art space at the Biennale site into a “space for citizens’ reminiscences.” In this way, they hope to illuminate the truth of the Sewol Ferry Disaster, so that the people who visit the court can build social bonds with each other.

The yellow umbrella motif will also continue to appear. At first, Mr. Lee doubted that people would be interested in the yellow umbrellas, but the first batch of 700 umbrellas sold out on the first day, leading them to make 300 more.

Placards are being distributed from door to door, as well. These placards are designed to easily fit onto veranda windows.

Since most of the casualties were young students, many people who work for youth organizations, as well as other volunteers, came together to gather opinions and develop a plan for what they can do for the victims and their families.

What You Can Do

International members are welcomed and encouraged to come to the candlelight vigils being held every week in 10 different neighborhoods in Gwangju. Mr. Lee, who holds the candlelight vigil in Ilgok-dong, has witnessed expats participating every week. He asked them about how they learned of the mourning and was told they saw the banners on the streets.

If you have any questions on their activities, please contact KimSingsing, one of the members of The Gwangju People of Sangju, via email at ilovegimchi@gmail.com.

Or, you can donate money to the group by transferring funds to Kwangju Bank, account no. 420-121-213520 (Depositor 지정남 Ji Jung-nam)

Too many innocent lives have been lost by accidents that could have been saved if proper precautions or timely actions were taken. The Sewol Ferry Disaster is not an exception. We can’t just sit on our hands any longer. Now is as good a time as any for all of us to correct the wrong and amend mistakes. Sometimes time just is not enough for proper healing.