Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Missing Fishermen of Geumyang 98 Forgotten
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
A huge banner hung on the altar outside City Hall set up for the 46 dead and missing sailors from the sunken frigate Cheonan says the nation will never forget them, but the nine fishermen who are also presumed drowned while searching for survivors have been left virtually uncared for, if not forgotten.
The trawler Geumyang 98, a private fishing vessel assisting in the search for missing seamen and floating wreckage from the sunken naval ship, collided with a Cambodian cargo ship on April 2 and foundered in the West Sea.
Two fishermen were found dead while seven others are still missing. The funeral ceremony for fisherman Kim Jong-pyong, 55, was held on April 22 and the body of Indonesian fisher Lambang Nurcahyo was repatriated.
Kim’s funeral was much simpler than the nationwide mourning for the Cheonan sailors, attended by just 10 family members of the missing fishermen and company personnel.
Twenty family members of the fishermen visited the central government complex Tuesday to lodge complaints about the government’s tepid action toward the sunken Geumyang 98.
Lee Won-sang, the younger brother of the missing Lee Yong-sang, heads an ad-hoc committee for the fishermen. “It has been three weeks since the trawler sank during the search for the naval ship Cheonan, but the government has not indicated its stance on the salvage of the trawler, funeral procedure or recognition of the crew as martyrs,” Lee said.
The families requested a talk with Prime Minister Chung Un-chan, but failed to meet with him.
“The government is trying to come up with measures to share the sense of bereavement,” a ministry official told the families.
However, the government has no concrete policy for the missing fishermen yet. “Geumyang 98 sank on the way to port, not during the search operation and so does not meet the requirements for the crew to be designated martyrs,” the official said.
Opposition parties also condemned the government for not respecting the missing fishermen.
Lee Hoi-chang, the Liberty Forward Party (LFP) leader, criticized the government’s “pitiless” attitude.
“The fishermen are being discriminated against compared to the sailors of the Cheonan. The Geumyang crew voluntarily joined the search, even if they didn’t have any military obligation to, and sacrificed themselves for the public good,” Lee said during a committee meeting at the National Assembly, Wednesday.