'Master of Cooperation' Kim In-ho, Chair of Seoul Metropolitan Council, Resolves 'Sewol Ferry Conflict'

Seoul Metropolitan Council Temporarily Exhibits Victims' Photos and Artifacts in Memory Space on 1st Floor Lobby... Chair Kim In-ho: "Council Steps in to Mediate Between Seoul City and Bereaved Families Amid Heatwave Confrontation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] The Seoul Metropolitan Council (Chairman Kim In-ho) has decided to temporarily exhibit photos and other items from the Sewol Ferry Memorial Space for two weeks in the exhibition area on the first floor of the council building amid the standoff between the Seoul city government and the bereaved families over the removal of the Sewol Ferry Memorial Space located at Gwanghwamun Square.

Accordingly, the photos of the victims' pressed flowers and the exhibits from the memorial space were moved to the first floor of the council on the 27th and are currently on display.

Spokesperson Choi Seon said, “The Seoul Metropolitan Council deeply empathizes with the unerasable profound pain and sorrow of the Sewol Ferry victims' families and has approved their request to use the council’s exhibition space.” He added, “Furthermore, the Sewol Ferry accident is a painful memory that our society must never forget and represents a universal sorrow for all citizens.”

Spokesperson Han Ki-young stated, “Seoul is not just any provincial city but the capital visited by all citizens, and it has the duty to consider together how to remember this history according to the demands of the bereaved families and the public.” He added, “Although the families and the executive branch are still at an impasse, we hope that the Seoul city government will take the initiative to communicate and coexist by fully considering the families’ opinions.”

Chairman Kim In-ho emphasized, “If the standoff continues amid the brutal heatwave, it will be a difficult and unpleasant memory for the Sewol Ferry victims' families, the Seoul city officials carrying out the plaza restructuring project, and the citizens watching the standoff.” He stressed, “Above all, we sincerely empathize with the ongoing grief of the families who lost their children in an instant and intend to temporarily exhibit the memorial space items inside the council to mediate the current situation.”

Earlier, on the afternoon of the 26th, Chairman Kim visited the Sewol Ferry Memorial Space at Gwanghwamun Square and met with the bereaved families, expressing that the council would strive as a mediator to find common ground between the Seoul city government and the families.