By Kwon Ji-youn
Kim Geo-sung, chairperson of Transparency International Korea, has called for the establishment of a pan-national consultative body to find ways to heal the wounds of the families of the Sewol ferry disaster victims.
"After wrapping up rescue operations, we should focus on the victims and their families," Kim said during a roundtable discussion organized by The Korea Times on May 1.
"It is necessary to create a consultative body comprised of people from all walks of life, including teachers, lawyers, journalists, doctors, politicians, students and workers, to discuss how to heal and rebuild our society," he said.
He pointed out that the basic cause of the accident was Korean society's pursuit of materialism and "mammonism," ignoring the value of human life.
"We should try to find a viable solution to a society that has become a slave to money. I hope Korea will be reborn as a new society that puts human values and life before money, greed and selfishness," he said.
More than 300 passengers, mostly high school students, are dead or missing in the sinking of the overloaded Sewol off Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province, on April 16.
Pyo Chang-won, chief of the Pyo Institute of Crime Science and a former professor at the National Police Academy, also stressed the importance of healing the trauma of the bereaved families and surviving students.
"The entire nation should serve as a healing community. People need to come together to help the families of the victims heal. The focus needs to be on them. Without healing, nothing can be resolved," Pyo said.
He urged the authorities to allow the families to have access to all information regarding the disaster, as well as any preventative measures that are being taken.
"They should be allowed to participate in the process and they need treatment to overcome the wounds and trauma so that they can go on living," he said.
Hwang Pill-kyu, a lawyer at GongGam, a human rights law foundation, slammed the maritime authorities for mishandling the case and betraying public trust.
He called on the authorities to take radical action to regain that trust, saying that social distrust is getting stronger as time passes.
Song Chang-seog, chief manager of the Hope Institute, a civic organization promoting social innovation, noted that the ferry disaster shows that the nation is sitting on a ticking bomb.
"We don't' know when and where the next disaster will happen," he said. "We need to organize and analyze the entire process this time, from causes to countermeasures, so as to prevent similar tragedies from happening again."
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"After wrapping up rescue operations, we should focus on the victims and their families," Kim said during a roundtable discussion organized by The Korea Times on May 1.
"It is necessary to create a consultative body comprised of people from all walks of life, including teachers, lawyers, journalists, doctors, politicians, students and workers, to discuss how to heal and rebuild our society," he said.
He pointed out that the basic cause of the accident was Korean society's pursuit of materialism and "mammonism," ignoring the value of human life.
"We should try to find a viable solution to a society that has become a slave to money. I hope Korea will be reborn as a new society that puts human values and life before money, greed and selfishness," he said.
More than 300 passengers, mostly high school students, are dead or missing in the sinking of the overloaded Sewol off Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province, on April 16.
Pyo Chang-won, chief of the Pyo Institute of Crime Science and a former professor at the National Police Academy, also stressed the importance of healing the trauma of the bereaved families and surviving students.
"The entire nation should serve as a healing community. People need to come together to help the families of the victims heal. The focus needs to be on them. Without healing, nothing can be resolved," Pyo said.
He urged the authorities to allow the families to have access to all information regarding the disaster, as well as any preventative measures that are being taken.
"They should be allowed to participate in the process and they need treatment to overcome the wounds and trauma so that they can go on living," he said.
Hwang Pill-kyu, a lawyer at GongGam, a human rights law foundation, slammed the maritime authorities for mishandling the case and betraying public trust.
He called on the authorities to take radical action to regain that trust, saying that social distrust is getting stronger as time passes.
Song Chang-seog, chief manager of the Hope Institute, a civic organization promoting social innovation, noted that the ferry disaster shows that the nation is sitting on a ticking bomb.
"We don't' know when and where the next disaster will happen," he said. "We need to organize and analyze the entire process this time, from causes to countermeasures, so as to prevent similar tragedies from happening again."
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