Sewol families remove memorial altar
A man pays respect to victims of the Sewol ferry sinking at a memorial altar set up in Paengmok Port on Jindo, South Jeolla Province, Monday. The bereaved families removed the altar to keep a promise to return the long-occupied area to Jindo residents. / Korea Times photo by Park Kyung-woo
By Lee Kyung-min
A group of 30 bereaved family members of Sewol ferry sinking victims have removed a memorial altar set up for their loved ones near Paengmok Port on Jindo, South Jeolla Province, the nearest point from the coast where the ill-fated ferry went down and killed over 300 people more than four years ago.
With the help of volunteers, the group removed the altar completely, Monday, three days after they began disassembling the two containers in which pictures of the 304 dead had been displayed on their walls since Jan. 14, 2015.
Of them, 299 people were confirmed dead and five remain unaccounted for. The victims were mostly high school students on a school trip to Jeju Island.
Also removed was a special guard post set up on a hill near the area, 2.6 kilometers from where the ferry sank.
At the guard post, the bereaved family members took turns to monitor the ferry's salvage efforts around the clock after then President Park Geun-hye refused to disclose the process to the public. The Park government denied access to the site, even to the family members.
The removal of the altar was the final stage of returning the area to Jindo residents, as the families promised when they began occupying the site to set up a virtual “headquarters” where their struggle to find facts about the disaster had been based thereafter.
The occupancy had put on hold for years a major state-run construction project to build ferry terminals there for a modernized port. Jindo County and the group had agreed to retain the altar until the ferry was fully salvaged. The salvage work finished in March last year.
“We earlier promised to leave after the rescue efforts, and the salvage efforts are concluded. We are now keeping our promise,” an official of the group said. “We express deep gratitude toward Jindo residents for having been patient with us and understanding our grief.”
The highly emotional decision came four years and five months after the ferry sank. However, continued struggles are expected over whether to set up a commemorative space for the victims in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, where most of the victims, Danwon High School students, lived.
The city government plans to construct a space in Hwarang Park near the school, a move opposed vehemently by residents who claim what they call a “charnel house” would only prolong the emotional distress that has “inconvenienced” them over the past four years.
According to Ansan City officials and the city's website, the city plans to build the commemorative space which will account for 3.8 percent of the 620,000-square-meter park.
The underground memorial site, where victims' remains will be interred, will take only about 0.1 percent of the space, and will be designed in a way that does not draw criticism for being “repulsive” to other residents, the city official added.
However, the explanation does little to assuage concerns among residents, many of whom have held street rallies to demand the city government scrap the plan.
A city official said more public hearings will be held to gather opinions before pushing ahead with the plan.