If we could turn clock back by one week

Messages wishing for the safe return of the missing passengers of the sunken ferry Sewol are left on a tent flap at Paengmok harbor on Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province, Wednesday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Yoon Sung-won, Shim Hyun-chul

JINDO ― This island has been one of sadness for the week since the sinking of the ferry Sewol.

On board were more than 470 passengers. There have been no more survivors found after the 174 who were rescued before the ship went down, while more bodies have been recovered.

This creates an odd mixture of feelings ― anticipation, disappointment, anger and a sense of resignation, all enveloped by great sorrow.

No one can escape from it for even a moment.

If you try to distract yourself from it, either a sound of wailing or a deep sigh from someone who has just found out they have lost a loved one, or is about to lose one, overtakes you.

Everybody here wishes they could go back one week and relive it differently.

Few will say it out loud, not because of the futility of it but because of the sense of guilt over not being able to do anything.

In their minds, they go over it time and time again.

What if an evacuation announcement was made?

What if the captain and crew helped passengers escape?

What if the government did a better job in the initial stages instead of announcing a false report that everyone had been rescued?

What if the weather and underwater conditions, such as current speed and visibility, were more favorable for rescuers?

All these what-ifs went wrong, like Murphy’s Law.

In this manmade disaster, many young souls are victims of the selfishness, complacency and incompetence of adults.

It feels miserably inadequate to offer condolences.