I scroll through the news, and something catches my eye. Incidents in Korea. I click on the link and start reading through. I learned a lot about the incidents that took place in Korea in the past ten years. The Sewol Ferry incident, former South Korean President Park Geun-Hye’s prison sentence, and more.
On April 16, 2014, The Sewol Ferry incident occurred. The ferry was transporting students and teachers from Danwon High School to Jeju Island when the ferry began sinking. Overloading and unsecured cargo caused the ferry to tilt to its side and start sinking; this was the effect of the ferry sinking because the cargo limit was 987 tons, but there was 3,608 tons of cargo within the ferry. According to The New York Times, one student started recording on her cellphone at 8:52 A.M, just three minutes before disaster occurred. The students felt the ferry shudder and wondered if it was actually sinking. When people realized the ferry was actually sinking, they were scared, confused, and concerned.
As the ferry began to sink rapidly, panic spread throughout the ferry. Students calling loved ones to say their final goodbyes, others weeping into their friends’ arms. The captain of the ferry, Lee Jun-Seok came over the intercom and assured them that they were going to be safe if they did not move, but that caused more panic and tears. The captain came up to the intercom, cracking, and ordered the passengers to wear life-jackets. One student gave his friend his life-jacket, and the student who received the life-jacket asked, “ What about you?” and the kind student replied that he will get one for himself. Confusion, panic, and cackles filled the ferry as passengers were trying to make sense of the situation. After an hour, helicopters came to rescue the passengers and captain on the sinking ferry, even though students were shouting and begging to be rescued first, but the crew rescued the psychotic captain and other crew members first, leaving the students and staff to be helpless in being rescued because no one came to their aid. The hero of the tragedy was Park Ji-Young, a part time ferry employee who helped passengers escape and helped those who were injured. Lee Jun-Seok and 14 others of the crew were arrested and charged with abandoning their passengers in an emergency. Many years after the tragedy occurred, people view Korea as a country that has political problems, as well as others blaming the victims’ families for the loss of the students and staff.
“The Sewol Ferry Tragedy was horrible and I feel terrible for the students who lost their lives and families who suffered through a loss from the tragedy.” utters Eva Jung, 11
“I feel a mix of devastation and anger towards the tragedy, because I can’t even fathom the complex range of emotions the students felt in those moments watching no adult make any attempt to save them. When I first discovered the Sewol Ferry tragedy a year back, I researched a bit about the event out of pure curiosity and was left just speechless at how such an event could occur. After the initial shock wore off, it was replaced with anger at how no adult could man up and take responsibility to save the students out of fear of being blamed if something went wrong, leading to an even greater loss. overall, I feel such great sorrow for the students and pure anger and hatred towards the adults involved” Hannah Kim, 10 states as she expresses her pain for those who lost their lives.
Park Geun-Hye, the former president of South Korea, received a 20+ year jail term for bribery and abuse of power. The 69 year old’s presidential term was from February 25, 2013 – March 10, 2017. According to Wikipedia, Park wanted her aide, Choi Soon-sil, to take her place as president; Choi had access to Park’s schedules, handbag selections, and more. Choi would reach out to Ewha Womens University and bribe the staff to change the admission system, so that her daughter, Chung Yoo-ra, could get into the school. Choi would play with Park’s power as president until it got to the point where Park offered her presidential power to her friend. She would use the power to make Chung Yoo-ra extremely wealthy by buying her luxurious items, like designer bags and makeup. At the end of the court hearings and trials, Park Geun-Hye, Choi Soon-sil, and Chung Yoo-ra got arrested for giving up presidential power, playing with the position, and staying in Denmark illegally. Park went behind bars on March 31, 2017, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. As for Choi and Chung, the mother was sentenced to 20 years in prison and her daughter, who fled to Europe and resided in Denmark to avoid the South Korean government, was released from prison on June 3, 2017.
Many years after the tragedy occurred, people view Korea as a country that has political problems, as well as others blaming the victims’ families for the loss of the students and staff The incident that that occurred ten years ago about Park Geun-Hye’s impeachment still lingers in peoples’ minds because the first female president’s life was crushed by playing around with her own power; her actions and words affected Korea greatly.
