Funeral for camp victims delayed

Lee Sang-kyu, the principal of a high school affiliated with Gongju National University, is surrounded on Sunday by protesting family members of the five drowned students at a military-style camp at Taean Health Center and Country Hospital located in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, Sunday. They are demanding the education authorities punish the principal and other teachers responsible for the tragedy. / Yonhap

Bereaved family members demand harsher punishment

By Bahk Eun-ji

Bereaved family members of five students who drowned at a military-style camp in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, said on Sunday that they will not hold funeral services until their demands for punishment of those who are responsible for the tragedy are met.

They also said that the determination of the exact circumstances leading to the deaths should be a precondition for the funeral ceremonies.

They are demanding that the Education Ministry fire the head of the school, claiming that he was drinking alcohol when he was notified about the students’ drowning.

According to the family members, Lee Sang-kyu, the principal of the high school affiliated with Gongju National University, was already drunk when he arrived on the scene of the drowning last Thursday.

“The teachers initially said they didn’t drink any alcohol but later, they retracted their words and said they just ‘set the glass to their lips.’ We can't trust what they’re saying,” said one of the family members of Jin Woo-suk, 17, who died while attending the private Marine boot camp.

The camp has no affiliation with Marine Corps.

Lee, the principal announced his intention to step down Sunday, after meeting with an education ministry official and family members to decide the funeral procedures.

However, the family members are demanding the ministry fire him and remove him from the government payroll, the strongest punishment that will deprive him the right to receive pension payments.

In a meeting with the family members, the ministry official, however, did not specify whether the ministry will dismiss the principal immediately or not.

The family members expressed anger and had a scuffle with ministry officials, calling for the immediate dismissal of the principal and other school officials who are responsible for the deaths.

The principal allegedly neglected his duty to take immediate action when he initially got a distress call from the workers of the youth hostel where the students stayed during the camp.

Police raided the Seoul headquarters of a tour company that organized the camp at the western beach on Saturday. Police questioned Saturday one teacher, surnamed Kim, 49, on charges of negligence of overseeing 200 students taking part in the camp, but the teacher has not been physically detained yet.

The bodies of the five students were found this week after they were swept away when they jumped into the sea from a boat after taking orders from a camp instructor, who apparently misjudged the depth of the water.