The almost weeklong holiday recess is over, but the National Assembly shows few signs of getting back to normal. Neither the ruling nor the opposition parties are budging an inch from their previous positions, with each side demanding that the other step back.
Even public opinion appears split into two camps, according to lawmakers returning from their constituencies after meeting with voters.
Residents of the southeastern Gyeongsang area, who support President Park Geun-hye and her conservative ruling party, complain of “Sewol fatigue” and are calling for the parliament to separate the enactment of a special law on the April 16 ferry tragedy from the nation’s bread-and-butter issues.
People in the southwestern Jeolla region, who support the liberal opposition, demand that politicians assign a higher priority to handling the aftermath of April 16.
Does popular sentiment differ according to region and the political leanings of the electorate? Or did these politicians hear only what they wanted to hear and deliver only what they wanted to deliver? Both of those things could be true, to a certain extent. However, voters held one belief in common, regardless of region or political hue: The incumbent legislators are least productive, and are not worth their salt.
Less than five months have passed since the entire nation, from President Park on down to ordinary people, expressed extreme remorse for the worst peacetime disaster in decades ― one that left 294 people, mostly 11th graders, dead and 10 missing. At that time, the nation vowed to do everything possible to comfort the victims’ families and prevent a recurrence by rebuilding the government and the nation. Now, both the President and her supporters say, “Let’s get over the Sewol shock and focus on reviving the economy.”
President Park never tried to comfort the bereaved families in her Chuseok message ― she did not even say one word about the ferry disaster, conveying only her wishes for economic prosperity for Koreans. Instead of reaching out to the families, Park visited traditional markets and other workplaces to show that she cares about people’s livelihoods.
Are President Park and her party justified in pitting the Sewol families against the rest of the people, and in pitting supporters of the special law against supporters of economic legislation, however? We don’t believe so, at least as far as the trustworthiness of this administration is concerned.
And it is this lack of trust in the leader and her administration that forces the relatives to make somewhat excessive demands, such as insisting that the fact-finding committee have the right to investigate the disaster and indict the people it finds responsible.
Government and ruling party officials say the relatives’ demands are a challenge to the nation’s judicial system. But there are ways to reflect the relatives’ demands to the maximum extent possible without compromising law enforcement. The governing camp does not want to do this, probably because it is afraid the proposed panel would investigate Cheong Wa Dae.
Likewise, these officials claim most of the facts concerning the ferry’s sinking have already been revealed. What still remain unknown are facts about the failure of the rescue operation: Why could the government not save a single passenger trapped under the deck? What did various government agencies, including Cheong Wa Dae, do or not do that might have changed the outcome? Where was President Park, and what was she doing during those fateful first seven hours? This is not something to be kept secret under the pretext of protecting the leader’s privacy.
So President Park should volunteer to be first in line to be investigated by the committee. The “4/16” disaster is Korea’s “9/11.” Without understanding its aftermath as best we can, Korea will never be able to heal from collective and lasting damage. And the President should be a problem-solver, not the problem itself.