Family members of the victims of the Sewol ferry sinking started Thursday a hunger strike to last for an indefinite period in protest against the government’s decision to dissolve the Sewol Special Committee tasked with investigating the 2014 maritime disaster.

Yoo Kyeong-geun, the father of the deceased student Ye-eun and the spokesperson for the families of Sewol victims, began the strike at 4 p.m. at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, calling for the extension of the Sewol Special Committee’s term and the launch of a special prosecutors’ team dedicated to probing the deadly accident.

In a message posted on Facebook on Wednesday, Yoo urged opposition parties -- The Minjoo Party of Korea, People’s Party and Justice Party -- to keep their pledges to pass a revision to the Sewol Special Act to allow the Sewol Committee’s continued investigation into the cause of the ferry sinking.

The government dissolved the Sewol Special Committee as of June 30, citing the Sewol Special Act that took effect on Jan. 1, 2015. The act allowed the committee to probe the nation’s worst maritime disaster, which claimed 304 lives, for 18 months with another three months to report on their findings.

The committee is comprised of members recommended by the rivaling parties, the bereaved families, the Supreme Court and the Korean Bar Association.

But families of the victims and civic groups claim that the committee was not launched until Aug. 4, when it was allocated the budget and manpower to investigate the accident. They argue that by law the committee has eight more months to conduct the probe.

“We, the victims of the Sewol ferry sinking, and Koreans thought that we could now rely on political parties when the opposition won a majority and promised to act together (to amend the Sewol Special Act),” he said in the message. “But what we have seen so far are opposition lawmakers saying that they cannot ignore public sentiment and parliamentary procedures.”

The three opposition parties have agreed on eight points regarding their legislative cooperation in early August. As for the Sewol ferry disaster, the parties agreed to push for extension of the Sewol Special Committee by August.

But the Sewol victims’ families view such an agreement as insufficient as the parties failed to agree on amending the Sewol Special Act or opening a special prosecutors’ team. They also oppose the possibility that the Sewol Committee’s authority to investigate the body of the ship will be transferred to another body.

“I am afraid because I know how painful it is to fast for a long time and my health is worse than it was two years ago,” Yoo said in the message. “But what is more fearful is that the opposition parties will not be any better than the ruling Saenuri Party in salvaging the truth.”

Yoo said that he will continue the strike until the opposition parties achieve their demands in parliament.

Even though the Sewol Committee’s term has officially ended and the government has stopped funding its activities, the majority of the investigators at the committee are still working as usual.

Despite the government refusing to cooperate, the committee said Wednesday that it will bring in government officials from Cheong Wa Dae, the prosecution and the Maritime Ministry for questioning at the upcoming hearing scheduled for Sept. 1-2. The investigators will grill them over the process of the lifting of the ferry, alleged influence peddling in local media and the government’s lukewarm efforts to save lives.

The Sewol committee has found so far that the 6,835-ton ferry carried 2,215 tons of cargo, more than double its cargo limit of 987 tons at the time of its sinking.

Some 15 family members of the Sewol victims staged a hunger strike in July 2014 for 46 days, demanding an amendment to the Sewol Special Act. They ended the strike after Kim Young-oh, the father of Yumin, collapsed.
 
By Ock Hyun-ju(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)