The Ferry Tragedy

I arrived in South Korea at a strange and sad time. Most scheduled festivals were cancelled in light of the National Mourning that had just been decreed for the lives lost on the Sewol, a ferry linking Incheon and Jeju, which sank off the coast on April 16th, 2014. You might have heard about the incident, as it made international news. This tragedy cost about 300 lives, mostly high school students on a school trip to Jeju Island, the popular holiday destination. Probable causes for the capsizing are an excessive veering, the strength of current, an overload in cargo and an improper securing of the goods.

(Yellow is the color of remembrance)

 



While media at home made it evident that the fault rested with operators of the ferry, which was the official version, I found this incident was more complex than it appeared. Here, people were angry with the government and I wondered why. Eventually, this was explained to me and I was told the emergency services took too long to react. There was no real organization and nobody knew who should be leading the rescue. That tragic day saw lots of finger pointing, but little action.


The captain of the Sewol and some crew members were later charged with manslaughter. The captain also came under fire for abandoning ship before the onset of the evacuation. I read somewhere a counter criticism to the effect that evacuation culture in South Korea is not the same as in the West where the captain must be the last one to abandon ship. This leaved me perplexed nonetheless as I was under the impression that, under the naval code, the captain is responsible for order and safety on-board. Wouldn't that implicitly entails that he should remain on board to ensure orderly evacuation? At least as long as possible?

Reports seemed to agree that the evacuation procedure was chaotic, if not inexistant. It seems somebody on board deemed that the currents might be too strong and the water too cold, which would make the evacuation risky. As such, passengers were asked to remain in their seats even as evacuation conditions became more and more difficult... up until it finally became impossible to abandon ship. In another illogical instruction, passengers were told to wear life jackets and stay in their cabin. The instruction proved deadly when the ship capsized and passengers wearing a personal flotation device could not swim underwater to escape from their cabins. A majority of the passengers, high school students, listened and followed the crew's directions at their peril. It took two hours for the boat to capsize completely, two precious hours during which the boat could have been abandoned.

Fishermen and commercial crews were the first responders on scene and are credited with pulling out of the water the passengers who happened to be on the deck or escaped soon after the capsizing. The rest were left to their own devices. 

Reports from the National Defense Ministry also state that 9 elite divers and 10 demolition divers from the Navy were prevented access to the site, because the Coast Guard, which had operational control over the rescue, had assigned the rescue to Undine Marine Industries and wanted their divers to go in first. The victims' families argue that the delays in accessing the submerged ship prevented the rescue of anyone who might have survived the capsizing in an air pocket.

The aftermath of the tragedy was not without victims as well, as the vice-principal of the school who had survived the sinking committed suicide and the owner of the ferry company, against whom an arrest warrant was emitted for the modifications made to the ship, was also later found dead. A civilian diver also died after surfacing unconscious during a recovery dive. Finally, the prosecutor handling the case is asking for the death penalty for the captain - the last such sentence in South Korea dates back to 1997 - which is surprising considering the complexity of this tragedy and the fact that the captain is not the only one to blame. Doesn't it sound like a desperate attempt to
pacify the crowds?

In the wake of this incident, the South Korean president did voice her intentions to disband the Coast
Guard, whose inaction was considered a significant failure. There were talks of transferring these functions to the National Police Services. I got the chance to informally discuss this with a Canadian emergency coordinator and I do wonder if this gesture is not purely to appease the crowds. In many countries, including Canada, the United States of America and England, coast guards lead such rescue with good success. The question remains in my mind: is disbanding the Coast Guard truly the best course of action? Wouldn't it be more efficient to do a thorough clean up of the existing organization, review and update the procedures in place and increase training?

The Education Ministry also banned all school field trips. The rationale for this decision was that there was a need to ensure that all possible measures were taken to increase the general safety of these trips. Many parents signed a petition for the complete abolition of such trips, while other called for a change in the culture in South Korea, arguing that assessing issues of insensitivity to safety would be the best way to ensure children are safe everywhere in Korea.

As for the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, it is considering asking lawmakers to prohibit modifications to allow more cargo and passengers in ships. It also intends to change the ferry systems so that information is processed electronically.

This being said, despite the failing of the system, I must mention the work of the recovery divers who worked in bad conditions for a rescue that quickly turned to a recovery mission. They worked in near zero visibility, strong currents and great depth on top of facing extreme public pressure with a purpose that would put mental strain on anyone.

You might wonder why I felt the need to speak of this. Well, I felt I couldn't speak of my stay in Korea without breaching this sensitive subject, as it was the backdrop of my stay. Could I really have brushed past this subject? I hadn't intended to write an essay on the subject, but rather just quickly mention it. The truth is the issue was much more complex and revealing than I first expected.

When I found myself in gathering places, I saw the pain etched on all faces. I heard the cries in this foreign language as those left behind demanded answers. Seeing the countless parents who lost their child... One could hardly not be moved to tears by it.  That's the thing about traveling, all of sudden tragedies that would appear so distant when witnessed through a monitor... well they seem to hit so much closer to home.