A year has passed since the Sewol ferry plunged to the ocean floor, but South Korea is far from putting one of its worst maritime disasters behind it as the government and families of victims fail to see eye to eye on key issues.

In spite of the negotiations, rallies and scuffles that ensued since April 16, 2014, the two sides have yet to reach an agreement on salvaging the ship, compensating for the bereaved families’ losses and how to form an investigative team that will search for irregularities linked to the Sewol’s doom.

The government and the victims’ families are seemingly on the same page concerning the salvage of the 6,825-ton vessel. President Park Geun-hye recently said that she would “actively review” the operation, and Maritime Minister Yoo Ki-june implied last week that the operation was likely to be technically possible.

Pedestrians pass by a rally demanding a thorough investigation into the Sewol disaster at Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul on Wednesday. Yonhap
Pedestrians pass by a rally demanding a thorough investigation into the Sewol disaster at Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul on Wednesday. Yonhap

Recovering the ship has been a key demand of the people who lost their loved ones in the incident, as it would mean possibly recovering bodies of the nine victims who remain unaccounted for.

Last week, the Maritime Minister announced an interim investigation result saying that the operation was plausible.

But even if technically possible, debate is likely to continue over the immense cost. According to Yoo, the operation alone would cost about 120 billion won ($109 million) over a period of 12 to 18 months. The government estimated the total cost related to Sewol to accumulate to 550 billion won.

Groups of bereaved families continued their rallies, demanding that the Park administration guarantee the recovery of the ill-fated ship.

In a press conference Tuesday, civic groups and bereaved family members held a joint press conference to announce they would put off the memorial service for the Sewol victims slated for Thursday unless the government formally announced it would salvage the vessel.

Controversy also surrounds the so-called Sewol special bill.

The families demand that Park not sign the Sewol special bill, which they claimed would compromise the activities of the special investigative committee into irregularities that may have played a part in the accident.

The key issue is whether the committee can remain impartial. Public officials would head its subcommittees under the bill, but committee head Lee Seok-tae pointed out this is inappropriate since the government itself is one of the probe’s targets.

“If the committee were to be launched right now, the government bodies will also be investigated. But the bill stipulates that officials from those very bodies would be entrusted with key tasks (in the investigative committee). We feel this makes it very difficult for the committee to remain independent from outside influences,” Park Ju-min, the legal representative of the Sewol victims’ family group, told local media.

The group which Park represents is the biggest group of Sewol victim families as of now, with family membersof 226 out of 461 victims belonging to it. It has consistently remained skeptical of the parliament-approved special bill and disapproved of the compensation plan announced by the government earlier this month.

But a smaller group ― consisting of families of 36 nonstudent Sewol passengers who died ― was more open-minded toward the plan, indicating a possible rift among the victims’ families.

By all signs, reaching a closure for Sewol tragedy remains a distant goal, the road to which is littered with obstacles.

By Yoon Min-sik ()


minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com