Lingering Scars From the Sewol Disaster

On a nondescript weekday in Gwanghwamun, downtown Seoul, commuters walk by the memorial set up for people to pay their respects to the 304 who drowned on the ferry that capsized off the southern shores of the Korean Peninsula two years ago. On the morning of April 16, 2014 the Sewol, a ferry on its way from Incheon to Jeju, capsized with 476 people aboard.

In the months after the disaster, the center square which now hosts the memorial was regularly the site of angry protests as the public increasingly learned of the corruption-tainted incompetence from government and business that led to the deaths of the 304 passengers. Most of the victims were high school children on a school trip who found themselves trapped inside the vessel as it slowly sank – all while the nation watched on TV. Nowadays, the scene is quiet, and the signs urging the overthrow of the government have been replaced with the clean, formal portraits of those whose bodies were recovered from the sea. Nine picture frames remain empty, with the names of the missing written in them.

On the surface, life seems to have returned to normal. But even as passersby hardly stop to pay their respects at this site, the majority of South Koreans cannot forget. In a recent survey, 8 in 10 said the tragedy was still “in progress” for them and needed societal resolution, with 75 percent also saying they thought of the incident “sometimes or often.” Only 18 percent considered the event as in the past, while over half confessed they would like to forget.

Yet anger and resentment still stew as questions remain unanswered. Ever since the moment the ferry began to list, details of the disaster have unfolded in a fog of confusion and conflicting information, a theme that set the tone for President Park Geun-hye’s term and spelled the eventual doom of her Saenuri Party in parliament. Over the months, the shared tragedy devolved into anger and frustration over the corruption between the public-sector coast guard and Chonghaejin Marine, the ship-owning company that attempted to cut corners to improve its business at the cost of safety and, in turn, the Sewol passengers’ lives.

Public anguish coincided with a schism in parliament that has not since recovered, with bipartisan squabbling and unproductivity defining the latest parliamentary session. Park was criticized for her futile attempts at reform, such as punishing the coast guard by disbanding it. As the main opposition stepped up its attacks on her ruling Saenuri Party, the real issues fell largely to the wayside.

The public has shown that it is sick of the brawl, hoping for a sea change with a new, still unshaped third party led by opposition party defector Ahn Cheol-soo in the recent elections.

With the Saenuri knocked from the helm, some are hopeful that Sewol investigations can continue unabated. The families have urged lawmakers to adopt an amendment to the special Sewol law that will keep the Sewol Special Fact-Finding Committee running after its funding ends in June.

The families are tired of the government’s broken promises, but refuse to give up on hope.

“They're hopeful but a bit wary. In the past, the politicians or political parties have said they’d help but in the end it wasn’t enough,” said Park Hyun-ju, a coordinator at Coalition 4.16 on the Sewol Ferry Disaster, a network that is pushing for resolution to the case. She added that the special law wasn’t complete either, as it did not ensure the committee would be independent or have enough resources.

“Even if there’s one or a few facts that are newly uncovered, the families would be grateful about that. Knowing even one more little piece helps figuring out what really happened,” she added.

For its part, the government has announced that the Sewol will finally be lifted from the seafloor by the end of July, in the hopes of finding the missing and allowing those nine blank picture frames to finally be filled in. Some hope that raising the ship will bring answers and heal the divisiveness that has characterized the tragedy. The families are frustrated that they will be restricted from accessing the ship or learning about the findings as they happen, but hope that the special investigative committee will be granted six months after the ferry is raised to continue its probe.

While bringing them one step closer to acceptance, it will not be enough for the bereaved families to find peace until they can somehow find justice.

“The thing that will give them closure is figuring out what happened and getting those responsible punished,” Park said.