Week 3: Blog post 1c: Asia: South Korea: South Korea Raises Ferry That Sank in 2014 Disaster

 The article about the raise of the Sewol, a South Korea ferry which sank with more than 300 people trapped inside, discusses the reason of the salvage, problems which caused the accident, and the reaction of the South Koreans. Bereaved families have demanded the ship be salvaged hoping to find the bodies of their missing ones, and wanted a further investigation on the cause of the sinking. This disaster was caused by several loopholes such as routinely overloaded shipment, poorly secured cargo, and the incompetence of the captain, making the Sewol vulnerable at the sea. Many South Koreans were outraged by this accident and camped out in Seoul, requiring a thorough investigation since the government including the former president Ms.Park showed a negligent behavior. This news illustrates why the ferry was raised up, what caused the accident, and how the citizens had reacted to it.

 I had participated in the search for missing passengers as a member of the Korea Coast Guard and felt sophisticated emotions such as incompetence, anger, and deep sorrow while serving at the scene. I was a steersman and steering the wheel, I couldn't do anything but to look out the window hoping to find something and it made me feel so vulnerable not being able to help the passengers on the ship who might still have been alive. This feeling went on to anger toward the captain and some of the crews for not educating the passengers about the evacuation procedure and running for their lives even though they were the only ones who knew the evacuation procedure. Then again, looking at the misery that came with the bereaved family, all I could feel was the distress which made me sigh in sadness repeatedly Taking part in one of the biggest ferry accidents of all time, lack of ability, rage, and grief were all that was left for me in that experience.

Sang-hun, Choe. "South Korea Raises Ferry That Sank in 2014 Disaster." The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Mar. 2017. Web. 31 Mar. 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/22/world/asia/south-korea-ferry-sewol.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FSouth%20Korea&action=click&contentCollection=world&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection&_r=1