Feelings of guilt torment Koreans 3
He was one of 100,000 people who came to the memorial site for students in Ansan city, after the Sewol ferry sank in southern Korea on April 16, leaving more than 300 people, most of whom were Ansan students, dead or injured.
`I am a father, of two children,` he said while crying, his hand pressed tightly against his chest as if to suppress the pain.
This man did not know anyone on the Sewol ferry.
A Korean sobbed as he visited the common altar of Danwon school students who died in the ferry accident.
The main road leading to Jindo Island – where relatives and bodies of those in distress gather – is dyed yellow.
University students designed this symbol and distributed it via messages on the Kakao Talk network since April 19.
People tie yellow rubans at home and school.
Korean Twitter and Facebook pages, users share their sadness and pain.
The burning desire to save the lives of the ferry victims comes from who they are – they are high school students.
In Korea, children are considered the treasure of every family, receiving great care and attention.
The Sewol tragedy tore apart a piece of the cultural fabric of modern Korean society, when the first person to call for help was a child, not a crew member.
The crew, who were trained and tasked with protecting passengers, told the entire ship to stay in place and did not call for passengers to run to the deck or where there were lifeboats.
Meanwhile, the crew left the ship, becoming the first people saved by the coast guard.
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won took responsibility for the slow rescue and said he did not want to be a burden to the government.
Systematic mistakes
The Sewol ferry was originally named Naminoue, built in Japan.
The Sewol ferry passed all tests and inspections conducted by the Korean Maritime Register, a private agency representing the government.
`Changes to the structure of the ferry were part of the cause of the accident,` said Yutaka Watanabe, a professor of marine science and technology at the University of Tokyo, who has studied many accidents including similar ferry sinkings.
Prosecutors searched Chonghaejin Marine and the Maritime Registry.
The feeling of helplessness at not being able to save passengers spread to the coast guard even though they were able to save passengers who were dangling on the highest floors of the ferry.
When Koreans look deeply into this tragedy, they see systematic mistakes, from the company wanting to carry more passengers, to the actions of the very agency tasked with protecting passengers.
`This tragedy makes us wonder if we have to protect ourselves,` said Cynthia Yoo, an assistant professor at Kyung Hee University.
Images of students and teachers are continuously broadcast on television as well as the Internet, forming part of the memorial process.
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won today also acknowledged and apologized for the slow response to the early-stage accident and apologized to the victims’ families for a variety of issues, from preventing the accident to
`There are too many mistakes and wrongdoings in parts of society that have been with us for too long, and I hope they will be corrected so that accidents like this will not happen again,` he said.
