Park vows to raise sunken ferry, but relatives unmoved

PRESIDENT’S ANNOUNCEMENT FOLLOWS WEEKS OF PROTESTS BY VICTIMS’ FAMILIES

South Korea’s president vowed to raise the sunken Sewol ferry yesterday, but was still snubbed by grieving relatives on the first anniversary yesterday of the disaster that claimed 304 lives — most of them schoolchildren.

“I will take the necessary steps to salvage the ship at the earliest possible date,” Park Geun-hye announced during a brief visit to the southern island of Jindo — the closest landfall to the site where the Sewol sank on April 16.

Weeks of protests

Her announcement followed weeks of protests by victims’ families demanding a firm commitment on raising the 6,825-tonne ferry, despite the technical challenges and the estimated $110 million (Dh404 million) cost.

But the families were still not satisfied and boycotted a planned anniversary memorial event, saying Park had failed to give other assurances on ensuring a fully independent inquiry into the tragedy.

“President Park has repeatedly ignored our demands,” families’ spokesman Chun Myeong-Sun told a rally of more than 5,000 people in Seoul’s City Hall plaza yesterday.

“We will fight until the last moment to get answers and to make a safer society,” Chun told the crowd, most of whom carried white flowers as symbols of mourning.

While largely blamed on the ship’s illegal redesign and overloading, the Sewol disaster laid bare deeper-rooted problems of corruption, lax safety standards and regulatory failings attributed to the country’s relentless push for economic growth.

Of the 304 who died, 250 were children from the same high school in Ansan, a city south of Seoul that was the focus of yesterday’s remembrance activities.

Flags flew at half mast and yellow ribbons fluttered from trees and lamp posts across the city, where sirens blared at 10am (0100 GMT) and residents bowed their heads for a minute’s silence and prayer.

Despite torrential rain, thousands of mourners passed through a memorial hall containing hundreds of black-ribboned, flower-ringed portraits of the dead students.

Parents and other relatives sobbed and beat their chests as they left messages, stuffing animals and favoured snacks under the framed photos.

AP Remembrance South Korean President Park Geun-hye (second from right) looks at portraits of the victims of the sunken ferry Sewol as she arrives to offer her condolences to the bereaved relatives.