Survivor of Sewol Sinking Arrested After Tussle Outside Gov't Office
A man who claimed to be a survivor of the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking has been arrested outside a government office in Seoul after he demanded a meeting with the president's office. The man was allegedly in possession of a weapon in a public space, a chargeable offense in South Korea.
On Tuesday, local police in Seoul said that they had arrested the man after he approached police officers outside of the ministry of defense building in Seoul's Yongsan district. The building is currently the official residence of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, and the man demanded to meet with the presidential office to petition for improved support for the survivors of the Sewol tragedy.
The man scuffled with police for 20 minutes, and eventually officers used a taser to subdue him. He was given first aid for injuries sustained in the altercation, and was taken to a hospital for treatment. The authorities conducted and investigation and ultimately released him to return home.
On April 16, 2014, the ferry Sewol was under way on a voyage to the southern resort island of Jeju. The majority of those aboard were high school students and their teachers on a school field trip, and there were several hundred teenagers on the ship out of a total of 476 passengers and crew. The ferry capsized unexpectedly, and 303 passengers died trapped inside, including 261 students. Many of the deceased obeyed crew instructions to remain in their cabins, even as crew members were seen on TV abandoning the sinking vessel.
An investigation determined that Sewol was overloaded and under-ballasted on the casualty voyage; extensive structural modifications to her upper decks had reduced her GM, and the vessel capsized in a turn, then quickly sank.
After a public campaign by the victims' families, the vessel was raised at great cost and transferred to the port of Mokpo for further analysis. In the political firestorm that followed, South Korean president Park Geun-hye's approval rating plummeted, damaging her prospects and eventually contributing to her ouster in 2016. Nine Korea Coast Guard officials were indicted in connection with the Sewol's certification and operation (though all were acquitted); the master received a sentence of life in prison for abandoning ship without his passengers.
Students who survived the tragedy received extensive support, including 70 days of counseling and a special admissions program giving them privileged access to top universities. But in retrospective interviews with Korea Herald, survivors said that they are still haunted by the experience, and some still struggle with mental illness.