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South Korea’s President Apologizes for Ferry Disaster Vowing Changes, South Korean Leader Apologizes for Ferry Disaster
(about 7 hours later)
SEOUL, South Korea — Under mounting public pressure, President Park Geun-hye apologized on Tuesday for failing to prevent a ferry disaster that left 302 people, the vast majority of them high school students, dead or missing, and promised broad reforms to make her country a safer place.SEOUL, South Korea — Under mounting public pressure, President Park Geun-hye apologized on Tuesday for failing to prevent a ferry disaster that left 302 people, the vast majority of them high school students, dead or missing, and promised broad reforms to make her country a safer place.
“My heart aches thinking how I can best apologize and ease the grief and pain,” Ms. Park said during a meeting of her cabinet, admitting to her government’s fumbling in the early stages of rescue operations. “I am sorry that so many precious lives were lost.” “My heart aches thinking how I can best apologize and ease the grief and pain,” she said during a cabinet meeting, admitting to her government’s fumbling in the early stages of rescue operations. “I am sorry that so many precious lives were lost.”
It was a humbling moment for Ms. Park, the daughter of the military strongman Park Chung-hee. Ever since she took office in February 2013, Ms. Park has built a reputation for steely leadership in the face of military threats from North Korea. But the political opposition has often accused her of being an imperious leader blind to criticism.It was a humbling moment for Ms. Park, the daughter of the military strongman Park Chung-hee. Ever since she took office in February 2013, Ms. Park has built a reputation for steely leadership in the face of military threats from North Korea. But the political opposition has often accused her of being an imperious leader blind to criticism.
Ms. Park got a stinging taste of anger from the grieving families when she visited Ansan, a city south of Seoul, where the students’ school is located, and paid tribute to the dead students. The families turned away the memorial wreaths donated by Ms. Park and other senior government officials. According to local news reports, some angry family members shouted at her, demanding that she take responsibility for the disaster. Although the prime minister, Chung Hong-won, resigned on Sunday, apologizing for the disaster, few analysts have yet suggested that it has threatened Ms. Park’s ability to govern. On Tuesday, Ms. Park said she would create a central government agency to ensure better coordination in rescue efforts in major disasters.
This week, a posting by a film director on the president’s website arguing that Ms. Park has failed to show leadership and should not be president has attracted more than 520,000 views.
For the most part, Ms. Park is popular, thanks partly to older and conservative South Koreans who support her tough stance in the standoff with North Korea over its nuclear weapons threat and with Japan over historical issues. But her approval rating dropped by nearly seven percentage points, to about 58 percent, in the week following the sinking of the ferry, as “the people’s discontent deepened over the government’s ability to manage a crisis,” according to a polling company, Realmeter, which surveyed 2,520 voters by phone from April 21 to 25. (The survey’s margin of error was plus or minus two percentage points.)
According to video released by the coast guard, the first government rescue boats to arrive at the 6,825-ton ferry, which was sinking off southwestern South Korea on April 16, helped the captain and other crew members off the ship, while hundreds of passengers remained trapped in the vessel. Fifteen crew members, including the captain, Lee Jun-seok, have since been arrested on criminal charges of deserting their passengers during an emergency.
Early investigations have revealed shocking details, leaving little doubt that the disaster came about from a combination of the poor work ethics of the crew, loopholes in safety standards, lax regulatory enforcement and compromised industry watchdogs, whose top ranks are filled with retirees from government ministries. The ferry sinking is South Korea’s worst disaster in two decades.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that a former employee of the Chonghaejin Marine Company, the operator of the ferry, had alerted the government to corruption and lax safety measures in the company’s ferries. Writing on a government-run whistle-blowing website in January, the former employee reported an array of violations by Chonghaejin Marine, including overloading ships, covering up accidents and illegal treatment of contract workers, including failing to pay them, according to the Hankyoreh newspaper.
The government said it had helped resolve the petitioner’s grievances about unpaid wages. But it remained unclear whether it investigated his other allegations.
By this week, investigators were also expanding their inquiry into whether the government’s emergency response system worked properly. They raided the offices of vessel traffic controllers amid allegations that their fumbling and indecision in the early stages of the disaster contributed to the high death toll.
A coast guard emergency dispatcher has been accused of delaying early rescue efforts by asking a student who called for help on his cellphone to provide map coordinates for his location. Vessel traffic controllers are accused of failing to monitor the ferry’s whereabouts even after it was tilting and drifting in a notoriously dangerous waterway.
When the ship set sail from Incheon, a port west of Seoul, on April 15, it was top-heavy with new cabins recently added to its upper decks, investigators said. The ship was also reportedly overloaded with poorly lashed cargo, and crew members did not keep a correct record of passengers on board. Still, the Korea Shipping Association, a lobbying group for shipping companies that also serves as a safety monitor, ruled the ship fit to sail.
On Tuesday, prosecutors sought to arrest two officials at the shipping association on charges of destroying documents and deleting files from their computers before their offices were raided last week by investigators. Prosecutors were looking for evidence of corrupt ties between the association and shipping companies.
“It’s deeply regrettable that this incident happened because we have failed to remove these layers of long-running evils,” said Ms. Park, referring to what she called entrenched corrupt ties between industries and regulatory agencies. “I should have tried harder to fight these bad practices and abnormalities.”
By Tuesday, the death toll had risen to 205, as divers struggled with strong currents in their search for the 97 people who remained missing 13 days after the accident.
Although the prime minister, Chung Hong-won, resigned on Sunday, apologizing for the disaster, few analysts have yet suggested that it has threatened Ms. Park’s ability to govern. On Tuesday, Ms. Park said she would create a new central government agency to ensure better coordination in rescue efforts in major disasters.
She also vowed to eliminate what she and the local news media called “a government mafia” — in which retirees from ministries and regulatory agencies find jobs in industry lobbies. The collusive links between the regulatory agencies and the industries, forged through these retirees, have long been blamed for widespread corruption and lax safety enforcement of the kind that caused many nuclear power plants to be shut down last year.She also vowed to eliminate what she and the local news media called “a government mafia” — in which retirees from ministries and regulatory agencies find jobs in industry lobbies. The collusive links between the regulatory agencies and the industries, forged through these retirees, have long been blamed for widespread corruption and lax safety enforcement of the kind that caused many nuclear power plants to be shut down last year.
Ms. Park got a stinging taste of anger from the grieving families when she visited Ansan, south of Seoul, where the students’ school is situated. The families turned away the memorial wreaths donated by Ms. Park and other senior government officials. According to local news reports, some family members shouted at her, demanding that she take responsibility for the disaster.
For the most part, Ms. Park is popular, thanks partly to older and conservative South Koreans who support her tough stance in the standoff with North Korea over its nuclear weapons threat and with Japan over historical issues. But her approval rating dropped by nearly seven percentage points, to about 58 percent, in the week after the sinking of the ferry, as “the people’s discontent deepened over the government’s ability to manage a crisis,” according to a Seoul-based polling company, Realmeter, which surveyed 2,520 voters by landline and cellphone from April 21 to 25. (The survey’s margin of sampling error was plus or minus two percentage points.)
According to video released by the coast guard, the first government rescue boats to arrive at the 6,825-ton ferry, which was sinking off southwestern South Korea on April 16, helped the captain and other crew members off the ship, while hundreds of passengers remained trapped inside. Fifteen crew members, including the captain, Lee Jun-seok, have been arrested on criminal charges of deserting their passengers during an emergency.
Early investigations have revealed left little doubt that the disaster came about from a combination of the poor work ethics of the crew, loopholes in safety standards, lax regulatory enforcement and compromised industry watchdogs, whose top ranks are filled with retirees from government ministries.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that a former employee of the Chonghaejin Marine Company, the operator of the ferry, had alerted the government to corruption and lax safety measures. Writing on a government-run whistle-blowing website in January, the former employee reported violations by Chonghaejin Marine, including overloading ships, covering up accidents and illegal treatment of contract workers, including failing to pay them, the Hankyoreh newspaper reported.
The government said it had helped resolve the petitioner’s grievances about wages. But it remained unclear whether it investigated his other allegations.
Investigators have expanded their inquiry into the government’s emergency response system. They raided the offices of vessel traffic controllers amid allegations that their fumbling contributed to the high death toll.
A coast guard emergency dispatcher has been accused of delaying early rescue efforts by asking a student who called for help on his cellphone to provide coordinates. Vessel traffic controllers are accused of failing to monitor the ferry’s whereabouts even after it was tilting and drifting in a notoriously dangerous waterway.
When the ship set sail from Incheon, west of Seoul, on April 15, it was top-heavy with cabins recently added to its upper decks, investigators said. The ship was reportedly overloaded with poorly lashed cargo, and crew members did not keep a correct record of passengers. Still, the Korea Shipping Association, a lobbying group for shipping companies that also serves as a safety monitor, ruled the ship fit to sail.
On Tuesday, prosecutors sought to arrest two officials at the shipping association on charges of destroying documents and deleting computer files before their offices were raided last week by investigators. Prosecutors were looking for evidence of corrupt ties between the association and shipping companies.
“It’s deeply regrettable that this incident happened because we have failed to remove these layers of long-running evils,” said Ms. Park, referring to what she called entrenched corrupt ties between industries and regulators.
By Tuesday, the death toll had risen to 205, as divers struggled with strong currents in their search for the 97 people who remained missing.