Seoul still under attack over Sewol ferry tragedy

Almost a year on from the Sewol ferry disaster that shook South Korea, 52 relatives of the dead had their heads shaved in Seoul's central square in protest against the government's response to the tragedy.

"Do a proper investigation - don't try to bribe us with money," said Kang Bu-ja, mother of the drowned high school student Shin Ho-sung, before her hair was shorn to the scalp last week in front of a large crowd of media, tearful supporters and curious onlookers. "Why would the government put us in a corner? All we want is the truth!"

The government's clumsy immediate reaction to the disaster that killed 304 on April 16 2014 prompted a sharp fall in President Park Geun-hye's approval rating, which has never recovered to its previous levels. As the first anniversary approaches, the tragedy has resurfaced as a major political liability for the president, who stands accused of failing to keep the sweeping promises made in a bid to assuage public anger.

While Ms Park promised a full and independent investigation into the accident, the leader of the commission set up to conduct it has accused the government of seeking to interfere with his work. On March 27 the government announced that key teams in the investigation would answer to civil servants, who were to provide only administrative support under the original plan.

"The point of this decree is to undermine the independence of the investigating commission," its chairman Lee Suk-tae told foreign journalists on Thursday. "Maybe the government is afraid of having people know the facts." The ministry of oceans and fisheries declined to comment on his remarks.

Mr Lee's was the latest in a wave of censure since the day of the accident. The coastguard was attacked for failing to deploy rescuers swiftly enough, while civil servants were accused of turning a blind eye to the dangerous practices of Cheonghaejin Marine, the Sewol's owner - in some cases, allegedly, because of corruption. The criticism has stretched to Ms Park herself, who has been widely accused of failing to mobilise a top-level response when lives hung in the balance.

The president sought to address her critics a month after the disaster, with a speech in which she promised sweeping measures to uncover its cause and implement new safeguards against accidents. These included disbanding the 61-year-old national coastguard, and establishing a new ministry responsible for public safety.

Some experts have expressed scepticism on the reforms. "The government has merged all these different safety-related organisations under the new ministry, and I don't know if they will be able to work together properly," said Ryu Sang-il, a professor of public safety at Dong-eui University. "I don't think significant improvements have been made, and I wonder if South Korea will be able to cope properly if a huge disaster like this happens again."

For Lee Keum-hui, only one of Ms Park's promises is truly important - her pledge last May that the authorities would keep working to recover the victims' bodies until all were restored to their families.

The body of Ms Lee's 17-year-old daughter is one of nine that were never recovered from the wreck, and the families are urging the government to resume searches of the wreck, suspended in November, or to raise it from the sea floor. But the oceans ministry last week denied speculation that it was preparing to do so, although Ms Park said at a cabinet meeting on Monday that this would be considered if "technically feasible".

Like other parents of Sewol victims, Ms Lee is dismissive of the compensation scheme launched by the government on Wednesday, which will offer an average of Won425m ($415,000) to the families of each of the 250 schoolchildren who died on the Sewol.

"Only when we have the body can we hold a funeral," she said. "We don't know why it's taking so long. The government keeps telling us that it's too complicated, we won't be able to understand."

Additional reporting by Tae-jun Kang

© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation