[Politics That Day] Sewol Ferry Sorrow Turns to Anger... Cheong Disaster Command Tower Explanation

April 16, 2014 Sewol Ferry, 9 Years Later
Jeju-bound School Trip Turns Tragic, Nationwide Shock
Cheong's Excuses for Failing to Protect Citizens' Lives and Safety

Editor's Note‘Politics, That Day...’ is a series that looks back on Korean politics through the ‘recollection of memories’ related to notable scenes, events, and figures that deserve attention.

"Stay in your seat, do not move."

On April 16, 2014, the Sewol ferry off the coast of Jindo-gun, Jeollanam-do. The ship was tilting and sinking into the dark sea, yet the announcement said just that. The children were trembling. Children shedding tears, children leaving their last messages on video, children praying...

Their school trip to Jeju turned into a horrific memory. The children fell into the cold sea. The shining dreams of youth disappeared like that. The adults’ wrong response took away the precious lives of teenagers.

The news of the Sewol ferry accident was a shock. It was delivered continuously through breaking news and emergency reports. In Gwanghwamun, Seoul, and Seomyeon, Busan, a whirlwind of grief and shock continued. How must the parents in Ansan, who had said goodbye to their children on the school trip, have felt?

The shock and the heartbreaking feelings cannot be expressed in just a word or two. "Please, just save the children’s lives..."

On February 12, 2019, at Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, family members of the victims of the Sewol ferry disaster shed tears during the "Honorary Graduation Ceremony of Our Children Returned by the Dream of the Yellow Whale." This graduation ceremony was held for the 250 students who lost their lives among the 325 second-year students of Danwon High School who were on a school trip to Jeju Island aboard the Sewol ferry on April 16, 2014.
/ Ansan - Photo by Kim Hyunmin kimhyun81@

The families rushed to Jindo, Jeollanam-do. Clinging to a faint hope, they prayed for a miracle. Candles were lit at Danwon High School in Ansan. These were candles from citizens praying for the safe return of the children. The same candles were lit in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, and Gwangju.

That was all they could do. National prayers and wishes, hoping that if they reached the heavens, a miracle might happen. The strong currents off the coast of Jindo made rescue difficult. Such heartbreaking hours passed. There were still children left on the Sewol ferry.

They waited for rescue until the very end. But reality was hell. The children experienced that hell together. The hope for an air pocket, which some had expected, gradually vanished like bubbles.

Why did the children have to end their lives there? What had the adults been doing all this time?

That day, remembered as a shock in modern Korean history, marked the start of another battle in politics. The debate over responsibility. April 2016 was just two months before the local elections. The ruling and opposition parties were in the process of selecting candidates for regional governors and other positions.

The shock of the Sewol ferry naturally sent shockwaves through Yeouido’s political circles. The candidate selection process was halted. The leadership of both parties lowered their profiles. The thought that the Sewol children must be saved was shared even in politics.

On May 16, 2019, the 5th anniversary of the Sewol Ferry disaster, the "Danwon High School 4.16 Memory Classroom," containing traces of the students who lost their lives in the Sewol Ferry disaster, is preserved in the annex of the Ansan Office of Education in Gyeonggi Province. / Ansan - Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

However, there were those who caused frowns. A politician aspiring to be Seoul mayor had to bow his head because of his son’s SNS posts about the Sewol ferry. His son’s message, which spoke of the ‘uncivilized national sentiment,’ sparked the anger of a public still reeling from the Sewol shock.

During the time when attention was focused on rescuing Sewol passengers, there was also a politician caught up in controversy over bomb shots, and another politician who enjoyed a joyful moment with supporters while being tossed in the air, only to face public backlash.

These outbursts, occurring as anger over politicians grew amid the Sewol shock, poured fuel on the fire of public outrage.

The final blow was the Blue House’s explanation about the disaster control tower.

At that time, on April 23, 2016, the National Security Office chief of the Blue House conveyed through a spokesperson that “The National Security Office is not the disaster control tower.” This was a rebuttal to the Blue House’s responsibility.

On March 17, 2019, at the Sewol Ferry Disaster Victims and Missing Persons Memorial Altar in Gwanghwamun Square, Seoul, officials are moving the portraits of the victims during the transfer ceremony. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

As the Sewol shock spread to the Blue House, this attempt to contain the situation became a decisive moment that turned public opinion against them. Even in this situation, the public was shocked by the efforts to prevent political fallout.

Criticism arose asking how this was any different from the Sewol ferry captain who abandoned the children and survived alone.

Portrait photos of the children who dreamed of a school trip to Jeju began to increase one by one. The sharing of grief spread nationwide. Since that day in April 2014, has society’s promise and determination to protect children’s safety been kept?

Nine years have passed. The high school students who were on the Sewol ferry are now approaching their 30s. If they were still alive, if only... Would those children think that the social promises made nine years ago have been fulfilled?