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| Families of sunken ferry victims camp at a gymnasium in Jindo County, South Jeolla Province, awaiting news from search operations, Wednesday. / Korea Times |
By Jun Ji-hye
The committee representing relatives of the missing and dead from the ill-fated ferry Sewol are calling for the enactment of a special law to ascertain the truth behind the sinking of the ferry and prevent the recurrence of such a tragic accident.
It is a change from their initial demand for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the case, along with conducting the National Assembly hearings about the incident.
"Our call for the establishment of a special law reflects family members' skepticism about the effectiveness of the special prosecutor verifying the truth," said Kim Byung-kwon, a representative of the committee, Wednesday.
They have been distributing revised new pamphlets to visitors to a joint altar in Ansan Hwarang Park since Tuesday. The revised pamphlet does not contain their initial call for the special probe and parliamentary hearings.
The change in their position came as the families have expressed doubts about the special probe being able to uncover the entire truth behind the tragedy, because of fears that the special investigation may be influence by the government.
"There are many limits. A special prosecutor is appointed by the President anyway," Yoo Kyung-geun, another representative of the families, told CBS radio. "The parliamentary hearings are not much different, because there have been no memorable scenes or figures in past hearings."
The father of a 17-year-old victim identified as Oh was also quoted as saying: "Families are expressing sympathy for the need to write a special law that will be able to resolve what we want all at once."
They argued that the core of the investigation should be ascertaining why the crewmembers and rescue teams failed to save more lives at the initial stage, as they believe precious time was wasted right after the accident.
They said, however, that the ongoing investigation is just focusing on the risky modifications and overloading of the passenger ship, and allegations of corruption of former Semo Group Chairman Yoo Byung-eun and his family. Yoo is the de facto owner of Chonghaejin Marine, the operator of the sunken ferry.
"We want to know why our children had to disappear into the sea. We wonder what the government's disaster center and rescue personnel at the scene did during the crucial period of time," said the committee in a statement.
They also raised the question of why the Coast Guard made no efforts to enter the sinking vessel where over 400 passengers were aboard, even after it confirmed that there were no passengers on the deck.
They added they want to know why the government disaster center wasted the first three days when there was much higher possibility of survival.
The committee has yet to make its demand official or clarify which contents they specifically want to include in the special law.
In a related case involving a special law, the National Assembly has yet to pass a bill to enact the special law about the Hyeongjae (Brother) Welfare Center case.
The now defunct welfare facility that opened in 1975 was accused of detaining some 3,000 vagrants and beggars and forcing them to engage in hard labor, resulting in the death of as many as 551 people during the 12 years of its operation.
The bill called for setting up a fact-finding committee under the direct supervision of the prime minister's office, in order to provide among other things, compensation, support and medical care to the victims and their families.
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @ThoKopJihye
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