Lee is first sitting South Korean president to attend official Sewol memorial ceremony
President Lee Jae Myung vowed to ensure that no citizen’s life would ever again be endangered by a failure of the state at a ceremony to mark the 12th anniversary of the Sewol ferry disaster.
Lee offered condolences to the victims and bereaved families.
“As president of the Republic of Korea, I keenly feel the weight of responsibility,” Lee said during the memorial ceremony held at Hwarang Park in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.
“We have all clearly witnessed what happens when the state — whose duty is to protect the lives and safety of its people — fails to fulfill its role. We have also come to realize, in painful terms, how severe the consequences can be,” Lee said.
Lee reaffirmed the role and responsibility of the state during the ceremony, which was attended by about 1,800 people, including bereaved families and disaster victims.
“The very purpose of the state is to protect the lives and safety of its people. I will ensure that these fundamental, self-evident principles are firmly upheld,” Lee said.
“I pledge that we will never forget the failures of that day and the grave lessons they left behind, and that such a tragedy will never be repeated.”
Lee was the first incumbent South Korean president to attend an official memorial ceremony for the Sewol ferry disaster, which occurred on April 16, 2014.
Former President Park Geun-hye visited a joint memorial altar shortly after the disaster, but did not attend subsequent anniversary ceremonies during her term. Neither former President Moon Jae-in nor former President Yoon Suk Yeol personally attended the Ansan memorial while in office.
In his memorial speech, Lee pledged a zero-tolerance approach to public safety failures.
“When it comes to life and safety, we will not allow even the slightest gap,” Lee said. “We will build a country that protects its people under any circumstances — a country that citizens can fully trust and rely on.”
Lee further stressed that his administration would “deliver tangible and concrete changes that citizens can feel.”
“I believe keeping this promise is the way to fulfill the task the Sewol ferry (disaster) left to us.”
The ceremony began with a moment of silence for the 304 victims, followed by a commemorative video, memorial performances and a reading of letters by current students of Danwon High School, which suffered the loss of 261 students and teachers in the disaster.
The Sewol capsized and sank near Jindo, South Jeolla Province, while traveling from Incheon to Jeju Island. The tragedy resulted in the deaths of 299 people, with five more never found. Out of the 476 people on board, only 172 survived.
Most of the victims were students from Danwon High School in Ansan, who were on a school trip. Among them, 250 of the 325 students and 11 of the 14 teachers died.
The sinking of the Sewol ferry was not an isolated accident. Subsequent investigations into the disaster ruled it a man-made tragedy spurred by corporate malpractice, regulatory failures and insufficient disaster response coordination. Unsafe ship modifications, ongoing overloading and weak oversight, combined with a failure of the state rescue system, resulted in a tremendous loss of life.
The main opposition People Power Party paid tribute to the victims of the Sewol ferry disaster and extended condolences to their bereaved families during a Supreme Council meeting on Thursday morning.
However, the People Power Party said the party leadership would not attend the official memorial ceremony at Hwarang Park.
The party said the decision was due to the lack of a formal invitation from the ceremony organizers. In response, the 4.16 Foundation released a document showing that an invitation had been sent to Floor Leader Rep. Song Eon-seog.
“Unfortunately, tragedies have continued since then, including the Jecheon sports center fire disaster, the Itaewon tragedy and the Muan airport disaster,” Song said during the meeting."On the 12th anniversary of the Sewol disaster and National Safety Day, we once again pledge to build a safer society where no innocent lives are lost.”
Rep. Han Byung-do, floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, said Thursday the party would move to "pass a basic law on life and safety that defines safety as a fundamental right of the people and establishes an independent disaster investigation body as swiftly as possible."
“Sadly, tragedies have continued to recur even after the Sewol disaster," Han said during a party policy coordination meeting. "Now, the Democratic Party and the Lee Jae Myung administration will break this vicious circle.”
dagyumji@heraldcorp.com
