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| A relative of a Sewol victim throws a flower into the water during her visit to the site where the ferry sank near Jindo in South Jeolla Province, Wednesday, the eve of the first anniversary of the ferry disaster. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
By Lee Ji-hye
JINDO, South Jeolla Province ㅡ For the residents of this southwestern island, the tragic sinking of the Sewol ferry is not something that resides in memory. It is a disaster they live with every day.
Paengmok Harbor, the once-peaceful area around which much of the island's tourism industry was based, remains awash in yellow ribbons that mourn the lives lost in the disaster.
The transformation has thrust the residents into a difficult and awkward position a year after the disaster. While they continue to mourn the losses of life, they also need the country to move on from the tragedy and normalize the local economy.
"People don't just come here anymore without thinking of that fatal day. Who would want to come here to sightsee and enjoy themselves?" said 31-year-old Hwang Mi-sun, whose family runs a seafood restaurant next to the harbor.
"Of course visitors are going to be heartbroken at this sight of all these yellow ribbons, letters and artwork," she said. "We can tell by the lack of tourist buses in the area — the visitors have declined by more than half the original number."
Park Seung-il, who owns a boat rental company, says many residents have contemplated relocating their businesses to other seaside areas.
"We can't just leave. It's what we've been doing all along, and what we know best," said Park, 46.
"Not a single day has passed by for us since the accident; not just us, but the whole district's residents had to live each and every moment following the disaster, including the tears, the fights and even the boycotting of our fish," Park said, adding that more than 60 percent of the fish caught in Jindo are sent back to local fishermen.
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| The word 'Sewol' written on a buoy marks where the ferry sank last year near Jindo in South Jeolla Province, taking more than 300 lives / Korea Times photo by Lee Ji-hye |
To alleviate the economic downfall the tragedy has brought to the residents, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has offered Jindo fishermen and residents financial compensation through a process of documentation and evaluation.
"The first step for applying for compensation is to provide specific evidence, including statements and receipts that indicate a measured drop in business profits," the ministry stated in its press release through the Special Support and Compensation Team for the Sewol Ferry Tragedy.
"The government seeks ways to help the Jindo residents through the Sewol Special Bill passed earlier this year by providing direct guidance that otherwise would have seen it have to go through a civil lawsuit for each person," the statement said.
The government will receive applications for compensation from April 20 to May 15 at the Jindo district office. Those who meet the requirements will go through a 120- to 150-day process of evaluation and verification, and will receive financial support within a year after confirmation.
But Park, the small business owner, said that not many even went to the explanatory seminar open for all residents in the area, and that the standards set by the government are simply "impossible to meet."
"Everyone knows that all our payments are done in cash. We all work near the ocean — all our fishermen and boat rental businesses — and we don't have time to be printing out receipts," Park said, adding that his company, Myungin Star Rentals, has seen less than a third of its average customers over the past year.
What's worse is that it is now taboo for Jindo residents to complain about the problems they face.
"You take one look at the region's name and the port and you know it's a nationwide sorrow," said Kim Myung-hee, 57, who runs a small supermarket at Samang Harbor, adjacent to the Paengmok Harbor.
"I sometimes wish they would just take all the decorations away, because it is a sadness that we have to feel every time we go to work — no one wants to mourn over dead people when starting their days," Kim said.
Kim estimates that it will take about three to five years for the economy to recover in the area.
"We can't force the parents' wounds to heal when they've buried their children in their hearts. We have no choice but to wait."
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