A Tragedy of World Proportions
The entire nation of South Korea has been in grief—for sixteen days. Starting off at the port of Incheon, not too far from the capital city of Seoul, the Sewol ferry carried 476 people to Jeju Island, a famous tourist destination. Among the passengers were 325 eleventh grade students from Danwon High School, ranging from 16 to 17 years old, on their last school trip before preparing intensely for the Korean college entrance exam. Ever since its capsizing, approximately two and a half hours after impact on April 15, the media has been busy covering the accident 24/7, cancelling regular entertainment programs to provide the latest updates on the incident. None of the news for the past two weeks, however, has been promising.
In fact, most of it came out to be even more disappointing for the Korean people and grievous for families related to the accident. As of April 30, 174 survived, 212 are confirmed dead and 90 are still missing. It was a test of standards and capability for the country, which has boasted rapid economic development over the last few decades, but the results were disappointing.
The officials on the ferry are at greatest fault because of their immoral and illegal maneuvers in the face of this catastrophe. Had it not been for “panic” that struck these crew members, who were supposed to be more than experienced and trained in such calamities, the accident could have left fewer than a few dozen missing and/or dead. The ship approached a fairly dangerous area, a nuisance for many seafarers historically, with the second highest tides in Korea and one of the world’s greatest disparities between heights affected by lunar tides. Thus despite what many people assumed about conditions, the accident cannot be remarked as a complete failure or mystery.
The captain and crew members’ reaction to this accident however was more than problematic. As the ship began to tilt heavily towards one side, the captain announced to students, “Please remain calm and stay where you are.” Soon after, he jumped off the capsizing ferry, saving himself and some other crewmember onboard, but abandoning the other hundreds of clueless people. This act, according to the president of South Korea, Park Geun-hye, is “like a murderous act that can never be understood or forgiven.” It violated the historical maritime principle that the captain goes down with the ship as seen in the Titanic and under South Korean law, abandoning passengers at a time of crisis is punishable by life in prison. The captain’s actions, however, go far beyond punishing through life-sentence; he could have averted the situation and saved hundreds more. According to an editorial in the Hankyoreh newspaper, despite economic growth and wealth, the country has failed to mature ethically.
The government, too, is at great fault. Current president Park Geun-hye once declared as a representative ten years ago in a controversy with Korean hostages in Iraq, “By viewing our country’s inability to deal with the most basic duties (of protecting the lives of citizens), I have just held a conference regarding the citizens’ understandable anger on the government’s lack of skill and irresponsibility.” As soon as the ship capsized, units from the Republic of Korea Navy were deployed and several squads of the Disaster Medical Support Team were sent. The cold waters would allow an average person to survive for up to about three hours, which would have been enough time had rescue teams acted quicker under efficient commands from their superiors.
It was only on the second day, however, when divers began attempting to enter the ship for search and rescue. Successful attempts in reaching the passenger area of the ship were reported for a few days, but to the dismay of millions, the news agencies and/or government made false reports; in fact they were not able to reach the passengers for another week, at which point the ship had completely submerged underwater. Relatives of those onboard continued to criticize the lethargic and seemingly peaceful nature of government officers, often getting into verbal and physical brawls.
Family members are not as upset about failed measures onboard as much as the government’s response to the accident, which should have been an immediate rescue mission taking place within 24 hours of the accident. On April 26, Prime Minister Chung, the number two official in the South Korean government, offered his resignation and an apology to the entire nation, accepting criticism for the government’s incompetence in dealing with the situation.
Just two days ago, the President, who had remained calm and adamant about her capabilities throughout, expressed her apologies and regret about a “lack of action that should have taken place and could not be enforced simply through commands.” Unfortunately, the hours after the incident had long passed and all that was left for the government was deep regret. As another tragedy strikes Korea, the country’s methods and techniques remain flawed, leaving hundreds dead.
Those afflicted by this nightmare, however, are also victim of the times. There have been many hoaxes regarding students messaging relatives back, giving false hope to them, despite the fact that telecommunications in that area is very limited. The media, accused of covering up the painful truth and siding with the government, is another factor that added to the agony of Koreans.
Many top broadcasting services in Korea have been under scrutiny due to some of the false information regarding rescue missions they had shown to citizens. Smaller broadcasting systems did better to portray the cold truth, interviewing family members and those related to the accident, who accused both the government and these more popular television networks for censorship. Reluctantly, yet unfortunately, such difficult truth also spreads like wildfire due to the fact that everyone is connected online nowadays.
Luckily, support is coming for the families with lost ones. Of course, the death of a loved one cannot be replaced, especially in the position of a parent, but many people are offering donations to help in whatever way. Korean celebrities and entertainment agencies have been praised for offering millions, as well as conglomerates such as Samsung and Hyundai who have offered assistance in the process by offering cranes, floating docks, and people to facilitate the rescue process.
The entire nation is now gathered for a “yellow ribbon campaign”; the ribbon symbolizes solidarity with the families of the missing or deceased, partly in hope that some lucky students may still be alive. The campaign reads, “One small step, big miracle.” A gathering occurred here at Exeter as well on Sunday to pray and hope for the best in Korea. Thank you to all who came to the event and #GodBlessSouthKorea.