Why We Must Hurt and Remember the Sewol [Editorial]

[경향신문]

A siren will ring for one minute from 4:16 p.m. April 16, the seventh anniversary of the tragic sinking of the Sewol, in the Danwon-gu area in Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do. A number of memorial events will be held throughout the nation to remember the painful tragedy and lessons learned. The photo shows the sun setting behind the hull of the Sewol at Mokpo New Port in Mokpo-si, Jeollanam-do on April 14, two days before the seventh anniversary of the Sewol accident. Yonhap News

This day marks the seventh anniversary of the tragic sinking of the Sewol. When we think of the victims who died before fully blossoming, it breaks our hearts even now, but our memories fade with the passage of time. Still there are things we should not forget. Seven years ago, at 8:50 a.m. on April 16, the Sewol carrying 476 passengers including students from Danwon High School in Ansan tipped over off the coast of Jindo, Jeollanam-do and completely sank two days later. This resulted in 304 deaths, including the five still missing. More than half of the survivors were rescued by fishing boats and civilian boats that arrived on the site more than 40 minutes later than the Coast Guard. The nation immediately began the process of salvaging the hull only after President Park Geun-hye was impeached, and three days later, on March 25, 2017, the Sewol finally came up on land.

These details are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the tragic accident of the Sewol. We have yet to find a clear answer to why the Sewol sank, why it led to so many victims, and what Cheongwadae and the Coast Guard were doing at the time. Shortly after the accident, the Park Geun-hye government established a police-prosecutor joint investigation headquarters and launched an investigation. But the investigation at the time focused on the corruption of Yoo Byung-eun and his family and Cheonghaejin Marine Company, which operated the ferry, and on concealing the mistakes of Cheongwadae and the Coast Guard to minimize the state and government’s responsibility. After the inauguration of President Moon Jae-in, prosecutors conducted another investigation, but they focused on criminal punishment and only revealed the limitations in uncovering the structural cause of the Sewol accident and the state’s responsibility. A special committee for the investigation of the Sewol accident, which launched in 2015, also failed to properly do its part due to interference by the government and the ruling party at the time. In the Moon Jae-in government, a special committee for social disasters conducted yet another investigation, but failed to meet the expectations of the citizens and the victims’ families after getting off on the wrong foot.

The sinking Sewol exposed the bare face of the Republic of Korea. The tragic accident forced us to think about the dignity of life and questioned the reason for the existence of the state. But despite this painful experience, the world has not changed. In the workplace, another Kim Yong-kyun is dying this day, and children like Jeong-in are being abused nationwide nearly every day. The poorly conducted investigations and the delayed punishment for those responsible have turned the Sewol into prey for politicians and the bereaved families of the victims lay defenseless before secondary victimization. But there is still a chance. The special committee for social disasters still has a year to uncover the truth about the Sewol accident and prevent a repeat of such disasters. An investigation by a special prosecutor will also launch to punish the people responsible for the tragic Sewol accident and to uncover the problems in the previous investigation by prosecutors. We need to create a safe Republic of Korea and a Republic of Korea where human rights are respected. Until then, we must constantly talk about and remember the Sewol.