15 Years after the Sealand Tragedy, "There's No Place in Hwaseong where We can Lay a Stem of Chrysanthemums and Weep"

The sunlight came down hard on the white 8-meter tall memorial. Thirteen pictures of children were lined on the stereobate of the memorial, built in a hexagonal shape in memory of the tragedy which had occurred in June. The six-year-old children wearing a star-shaped crown made of paper in the pictures were holding hands, smiling innocently on a beach.

The Korea Children Safety Foundation organized a "Memorial for the Young Victims of the Sealand Fire on the 15th Anniversary" at the Child Safety Education Center in Macheon-dong, Seoul on June 30. The thirty parents who attended the memorial wept before the pictures of the children, who looked just the way they had fifteen years ago.

On June 30, 1999, a fire broke out at a makeshift building at the Sealand Youth Center in Seosin-myeon, Hwaseong-gun (currently Hwaseong-si) in Gyeonggi Province. Twenty-three people including nineteen kindergarteners and their teachers who stayed on the third floor died in the fire. Later on, it was revealed that public officials had turned a blind eye to violations of the law in the process of approving the license for the building. Kim Soon-duk, a former hockey player on the national team lost her six-year-old son in this accident. She returned her Olympic gold medal and other decorations to the country. She said, "There is no need to live in a country which cannot protect the lives of its citizens," and immigrated to New Zealand.

"My baby, how are you..."Families of the Sealand fire victims peer at the pictures of their children and lay flowers before a memorial at the Child Safety Education Center in Macheon-dong, Seoul on the morning of June 30, during a memorial ceremony on the 15th anniversary of the tragedy. Gwon Ho-wuk, Senior Reporter

Kim's cry questioned the nature and meaning of the state--to protect the lives of its citizens--which was also highlighted in the latest ferry accident. The families of the Sealand victims also regarded the Sewol as an exact copy of Sealand. After a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims, Go Seok, the senior representative of the Korea Children Safety Foundation approached the podium. Go, who had lost his twin daughters to a fire, said, "It [such a disaster like the Sealand fire] should never happen again, but our reality is not like that. Children are dying from terrible man-made disasters like the ferry accident."

When they began laying flowers, the families poured out the tears they had been holding back. Yi Hyeong-min's mother Shin Hyeon-suk (49) placed a basket of pink wild chrysanthemums tied with a ribbon with the words, "I love you, Hyeong-min." She then wept and caressed her son's picture. The pain and sorrow of these families overlapped with the Sewol incident. Yi Dong-byeong (52), Hyeong-min's father said "My wife had a very painful time. We still have traces of Hyeong-min at home." He added, "For the families of the Sewol victims, their pain is just beginning..." but could not finish his words.

Gwon Yong-hyeon (49) who runs a rice cake store in Cheongwon, North Chungcheong Province said, "Life changes completely for families who lose their children to such tragedies. It breaks my heart to think that more than 300 members of the families of the Sewol victims will be going through everything I went through." Gwon used to run a business in the semiconductor industry, but was completely devastated for seven years after his son, Hyeongsu's death. A faint smile appeared as he recalled memories of his son alive. "Hyeong-su was such a playful kid. It seems like just yesterday, when he kicked the car with his feet and jumped onto the car seat with his dirty shoes excited that we had bought a new car." But his faint smile soon disappeared. He said, "It is sad there's nowhere in Hwaseong (where the child died) where we can lay a stem of chrysanthemums and just weep."

The bereaved families sprinkled the ashes of their children at sea 4 kilometers away from Jumunjin, Gangwon Province. After the memorial, the families usually go to Jumunjin together, but this year they simplified the ceremony and skipped the trip considering the Sewol tragedy. Bitterness could be heard in the conversations among the families. "The company only understands and gives you a day off to attend the memorial until about ten years. After that, you have to study the situation." "People will become indifferent [to the Sewol incident] after a year. They're already talking about calling off the search in Jindo."