Dozens of parents of high school students killed in South Korea’s ferry disaster camped out near the presidential Blue House in Seoul on Friday, demanding a meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-hye.
Holding portraits of their children who perished when the Sewol ferry sank with the loss of about 300 lives last month, they staged a sit-in at a street corner, a few hundred meters from the Blue House.
A heavy police presence, including officers in riot gear, prevented them moving any closer.
Photo: AFP
“We’re calling for a meeting with the president to press our demands,” a spokesman for the families, Kim Byeong-Kwon, told reporters.
The victims’ relatives have been extremely critical of nearly every aspect of the government’s handling of the disaster. They want explanations for perceived delays in the initial rescue effort and for those responsible to be punished.
They also want more resources deployed at the recovery site to speed up the retrieval of the bodies of about 30 passengers still unaccounted for.
Supporters of the group pasted small, yellow paper boats on the sides of police vehicles with handwritten messages reading: “I’m so sorry, children,” “Remember the Sewol” and “Shame on South Korea.” A few representatives of the families were later allowed into the Blue House for talks with a top presidential adviser for political affairs.
The demonstration began late on Thursday night as a protest focused on state-funded KBS TV for commenting that the death toll from the Sewol was far lower than the number of those killed every year on South Korea’s roads.
The parents then decided to march to the Blue House to demand a meeting with Park.
Many parents believe some children may have survived for hours or even days inside airpockets in the capsized ferry, but died because rescuers took too long to access the submerged vessel.
Kim Hyeon-dong said the condition of his daughter’s body — recovered six days after the sinking — suggested she was alive for part of that time.
“Her body wasn’t decomposed at all. I believe she must have stayed alive for quite a long time after the boat rolled over... What we are especially angry about is the fact that many of our children would have made it if help had come earlier,” he said.
The confirmed death toll stood at 273 yesterday, with 31 still unaccounted for, after four more bodies were retrieved from the sunken ship overnight.
Meanwhile, the head of the company that owns the ferry was formally arrested yesterday as authorities worried he may destroy evidence, officials said.
Kim Han-sik, president of Chonghaejin Marine Co Ltd, became the company’s fifth person under arrest after investigators raised suspicion that improper stowage and overloading of cargo might have contributed to the April 16 disaster.
Kim Han-sik is facing allegations that he was aware that the ferry exceeded its cargo limit but did not do anything to stop it from leaving port, according to prosecutors.
A South Korean court in the port city of Mokpo said in a release that it issued an arrest warrant for Kim Han-sik because there are worries he may destroy evidence.
Senior prosecutor Yang Jung-jin of a joint investigation team confirmed Kim Han-sik’s arrest.
More than three weeks after the sinking, 273 bodies have been retrieved — most of them high school students — with 31 others still missing.
Search teams have been hampered by strong currents, bad weather and floating debris inside the ship.
A civilian diver fell unconscious while searching and died on Tuesday.
All 15 surviving crew members involved in the ferry’s navigation have been arrested, accused of negligence and failing to protect passengers.
Besides possible freight problems, prosecutors say they are looking into other factors, such as the turn made during the time the ship began listing, ocean currents and modifications made to the ship.
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