One decade after Sewol disaster, a nation remembers

A somber wave of remembrance swept through the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday as thousands gathered to commemorate the victims of the 2014 Sewol ferry tragedy.

Yellow paper planes thrown by members of a choir land on the ground during a remembrance service for the victims of the Sewol ferry tragedy at Hwarang Public Garden in Ansan, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday, which marked the 10th anniversary of the tragedy. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

A somber wave of remembrance swept through the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday as thousands gathered to commemorate the victims of the 2014 Sewol ferry tragedy.

“Every single day over the past ten years has been painful to all of us,” Kim Jong-ki, father of Kim Soo-jin, a junior at Danwon High School who died in the tragedy, said during a remembrance service held at Hwarang Public Garden in Ansan, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday.

“No other people should experience what we have gone through.”

On April 16, 2014, the Sewol ferry capsized off the coast of Jindo, South Jeolla, en route to Jeju Island. Among the 304 passengers and crew who tragically lost their lives were 250 juniors and 11 teachers from Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi.

The memorial service in Ansan started by reciting the names of the 250 Danwon High School students who lost their lives in the tragedy.

Politicians across all parties attended the service, including conservative People Power Party floor leader Yun Jae-ok, liberal Democratic Party (DP) floor leader Hong Ihk-pyo, Rebuilding Korea Party chief Cho Kuk and Reform Party head Lee Jun-seok.

President Yoon Suk Yeol did not attend the event but shared his deepest condolences to the victims and bereaved families of the tragedy during a Cabinet meeting held the same day.

DP leader Lee Jae-myung also did not attend the service as he was summoned for a trial. Lee wrote on his Facebook that he would take full responsibility as a politician to ensure the people “would not sacrifice their lives due to a country’s incompetency and irresponsibility.”

A bereaved family member of the Sewol ferry tragedy victim sheds tears during a remembrance service held in Ansan, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Dong-yeon, who spoke during the remembrance service in Ansan, criticized the government for not properly responding to the Special Investigation Commission on Social Disaster's recommendations, including offering an official apology to the victims and their families.

The Special Investigation Commission on Social Disaster made 54 recommendations regarding the Sewol ferry tragedy, including an official government apology, an additional probe into alleged obstruction of the investigation and support measures for the victims.

The Gyeonggi governor added that those who “conceal the truth will submerge while the truth itself won’t,” criticizing the Yoon government for not looking into the deadly Itaewon crowd crush “just like the former Park Geun-hye administration did.”

“We will forever remember the 304 victims,” Kim said.

The DP floor leader also criticized the Yoon government, comparing the tragedy to the Itaewon crowd crush and the Osong flood disaster.

"The ignorance and rejection [of the bereaved families of the Sewol ferry tragedy victims during the Park administration] are continuing under the Yoon government like in the Itaewon crowd crush and the Osong flood disaster," Hong said during the party's meeting held earlier in the day.

On the same day, the Supreme Court delivered a guilty verdict against a former vice oceans minister for impeding a special investigation into the ferry's sinking. Former Vice Oceans Minister Yoon Hag-bae, who served under the former Park government, received a finalized suspended one-year prison sentence for obstructing the Special Investigation Commission's probe into the tragedy.

A family member of the Sewol ferry tragedy victim sobs while holding onto a white Chrysanthemum on a ship off the coast of Jindo County in South Jeolla on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Earlier in the day, some 40 bereaved families convened for a memorial service on a ship off the coast of Jindo County in South Jeolla, where the ferry sunk a decade ago. They called out the names of the 304 tragedy victims and paid a moment of silence.

The families then moved to the Mokpo New Port. They participated in another memorial service held in Mokpo, South Jeolla, with the bereaved families of the victims of the deadly Itaewon crowd crush and other residents.

Memorial services and music performances to commemorate the victims were held in Jangheung County and Haenam in South Jeolla.

A memorial altar for the victims was set in Gwangju from Friday through Tuesday.

At 4:16 p.m. Tuesday, a minute-long siren sounded in the neighborhood of the Danwon District Office, marking a moment for residents to remember the victims.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]