President Park’s Ineffective Statement on the Sewol Ferry Tragedy

(19 May 2014, Seoul) President Park Geun-hye finally released a statement to the nation on the 34th day after the Sewol ferry tragedy. The statement came out a month too late, and was characterized its lack of serious consideration of the failed rescue operations. The tragedy is still ongoing. There are families in Paengmok Port on Jindo Island who have been desperately waiting for the return of their loved ones. However, the president showed no willingness to search for every last person, and hopes for a rapid rescue were dashed by the president’s discouraging attitude towards the Coast Guard.

President Park said that “the buck stops here”- but nothing in the statement specifically mentioned the responsibilities of the president and the Blue House. She pointed out the problems in the South Korean Coast Guard, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and Ministry of Safety and Public Administration, but kept silent on the indifference, irresponsibility, and failure of the president herself and those in office. The president talked about “something wrong with the control tower”. This incident goes beyond the mechanics of a control tower: the presidential statement held no self-reflection or apology to the nation for the tragedy.

President Park did not reflect on the years of reckless deregulation policies, a serious structural issue that contributed to this calamity. The core policies of the Park administration, like the ”3-year plan for economic innovation” and ”reshuffling of public offices”, were mentioned in today’s statement, but are riddled with various problems. The former sets up a quota system for privatizing the public sector, meaning that an existing regulation needs to be abolished in order to implement another one. She also called for the relaxation of the regulations concerning the development of the land and maritime industries. Our nation needs to cope with risk in every area of life. In addition, the rights of workers in every field should be secured so they can appropriately respond to risk and maintain the public’s safety. To this end, President Park should have shown her willingness to curb the expansion of irregular part-time labor in the public sector.

The president listed a number of serious measures in her speech, like the destruction of the Coast Guard, the establishment of the Ministry of National Safety, the rolling back of the powers of the Ministry of Safety and Public Administration, employment limitations on retired public officials, and strengthening compensation liability for acts that recklessly put the public in danger. Some of these anti-corruption alternatives have been publicly discussed. However, measures like the dissolution of the Coast Guard or the creation of a new ministry should not be the ones immediately and unilaterally dictated by the president. Rather, the direct and structural causes that led to the Sewol ferry tragedy should be honestly reviewed and discussed. Real discussion and action are needed to solve our problems— there can be no more ”quick fixes” like those emanating from the president’s cabinet.

President Park Geun-hye said she would allow special acts for the compensation of the victims of the Sewol ferry tragedy, the creation of a fact-finding committee, and the introduction of a special prosecutor. The decision to move forward on a special act for the investigation of the Sewol accident was a step in the right direction. However, it is doubtful whether any of these special acts will actually come to pass. After all, the president announced that ”the captain, some crew members, and the maritime company” should be held directly responsible for the tragedy. She should have proposed specific plans on how to proceed with the fact-finding activities. The president should follow through on her promises, and not keep coming up with quick fixes. The statement itself showed her self-righteousness and insufficient reflection in regards to the serious nature of this accident.

What could be worse than failing to follow through on certain promises? The presidential announcement did not even touch on the questions raised about the independence of the press, even though it is commonly known that the government directly intervened with the reporting of the Sewol accident. To make matters worse, the president mentioned nothing about the tactless government and ruling party officials who spoke bluntly and deeply wounded the victims’ families. The president’s statement did not address the outrageous behavior of the prosecutor and police, who rounded up 220 people who were petitioning the government for a fact-finding mission. Since the tragedy, the increased use of law enforcement against innocent civilians cannot be ignored. It seems that the government is trying to stop free speech in the public arena; this harsh crackdown on free speech rights has had a chilling effect on the entire country.

Government officials have greatly contributed to the tremendous loss of life after the sinking of the Sewol. However, no one-neither the president nor any government officials-is answering for this tragedy. There seems to be a deliberate attempt at a cover-up because of the upcoming June 4th elections. However, the public is not easily fooled. Our nation has suffered through the agonies of this tragedy as one people. The roundtable meeting to be held on May 22 will solicit the opinion of the public. President Park and her government need to take responsibility for their actions.

Korean Statement >> 세월호 대통령 담화에 대한 각계 원탁회의 입장

Translated by Giseok Ahn, Volunteer
Proofread by Kelly Lee, Volunteer