Sewol protesters march in New York, Ottawa
.jpg?w=728)
Overseas Koreans in the United States and Canada on Sunday protested the Park Geun-hye administration’s handling of April’s Sewol ferry disaster.
In New York, some 330 protesters marched from the Korean consulate general to the U.N. headquarters, carrying signs with photos of the victims of the disaster, who were mostly high school students.
The protesters blamed the government for an inept response to the sinking and for a failure to thoroughly probe its causes; and called on Park to step down.
Park arrived in New York this week to attend the U.N. General Assembly after a three-day state visit to Canada.
At a park close to the U.N. headquarters, the protesters held an exhibition of art works about the tragedy. These included the controversial “Sewol Owol' painting by Hong Sung-dam, which was pulled from the Gwangju Beinnale, a large Korean art festival.
Overseas Koreans in Ottawa, where Park visited on her trip to Canada, also held a protest.
They called for Korea to quickly pass special legislation to get to the bottom of the tragedy.
The bill would establish a fact-finding committee to investigate the sinking. However, disagreements on what it would entail among the ruling and opposition parties, as well as families of the victims, have stalled the process.