Sewol's fall : tears fall
By Hailey Kim and Bonny Minn
Edited by Sarah Ryu
Design by Nicole Yang
Edited by Sarah Ryu
Design by Nicole Yang
Sewol Accident One Year Later
As the citizens of Korea tied yellow ribbons on the poles of the memorial, they are reminded of the tragic event that happened on April 16th, 2014: The Sewol Ferry Accident. An year had already passed since the accident had occurred and still there are protests against the government on the fact that they did not take the ship out of the ocean. Many people know about the accident and how most of the passengers in the ferry had died, but they do not realize how the parents of the victims are still fighting and protesting. After a visit to the current site of the memorial, Gwanghwamun plaza, there was a huge crowd protesting against the government. Hundreds of yellow ribbons were tied on the poles and pictures of students were hung on the walls. Parents and volunteers worked day and night and everyone could notice that no matter how they tried, the government did not even lend an ear to listen to their stories. They were holding up posters for hours and did not even take a short break for a quick rest. The massive crowd were not only the families of the lost victims, but also included teachers, students from other schools, volunteer workers, and people who strongly felt that the way the government chose to handle this situation was wrong. “It should never had happened. The fact that it happened itself shows how much our country isn’t safe,” commented the volunteer worker. “Although they had enough time to save the students, they didn’t. They should have done everything possible. But they didn’t do anything” The reason they were protesting was because they wanted to tell the government understand their stories and to raise the ship from the sea floor, while changing the law. They were looking for change and begging bystanders to sign petitions. However, no matter how they tried, their hard work never seemed to have paid off. “First of all, I think that [ship’s] employees that cares more for the passenger’s safety than their lives should be employed Also, a system of safety agents that would rescue the people who needs help should be improved,” explained a family of a Sewol victim. The Sewol special law states the government must recover the Sewol Ship to find nine students corpses still missing since the accident, and compensate the victims’ families. Now it is time for the victims’ families to untie the yellow ribbons, solve past mistakes, and move on to the future. |
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