'Sewolho Memory Space' to be Relocated to Seoul Metropolitan Council Temporary Space...Sewolho Bereaved Families Accept Council Mediation Proposal

Seoul City and Alternative Measures Discussions to Continue

Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, visited the 'Sewol Ferry Memorial Space' set up at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on the 26th and held a meeting with representatives of the Sewol Ferry Disaster Families Association. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The 'Sewol Ferry Memorial Space' located in Gwanghwamun Square, Seoul, which was facing demolition, will be relocated to a temporary space prepared at the Seoul Metropolitan Council.

According to the April 16 Sewol Ferry Disaster Families Association and the 'April 16 Promise National Solidarity' on the 27th, the Sewol ferry victims' families held a meeting for 30 minutes starting at 9 a.m. the previous day and decided to voluntarily move the items in the memorial space to the temporary space prepared at the Seoul Metropolitan Council. The relocation is scheduled to take place after the families hold a press conference at 10 a.m. that day.

Jang Dong-won, the general team leader of the association, explained, "We decided to move the memorial space to the temporary space at the Seoul Metropolitan Council according to the council's mediation proposal," adding, "We were unable to move because there was no place to relocate during the Gwanghwamun construction period, but a small space has been created at the council." It is known that this mediation proposal was reached during a meeting between Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, the chairperson of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, and the bereaved families who visited the memorial space the previous afternoon.

The association plans to continue discussions with the Seoul Metropolitan Government after temporarily relocating the memorial space to the space prepared at the Seoul Metropolitan Council. Until now, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has been in a standoff over the demolition issue of the memorial space since the 23rd.

So far, the Seoul Metropolitan Government notified that it would demolish the memorial space citing the Gwanghwamun restructuring project, and the families have been demanding alternatives. The Seoul Metropolitan Government issued a statement the previous day saying, "Constructing and operating specific structures in the square does not align with the purpose of the new Gwanghwamun Square," and added, "It is an unacceptable proposal."