by JULIE HA and MICHELLE WOO
In Korean culture, when we talk about “100 days”—the baegil—it’s usually in the context of new life, dreams of the future, hope. Because infant mortality rates were so high in Korea in the past, families would mark the 100-day milestone of a child with joy, gratitude and a big celebration. Many of us Korean American parents still celebrate the baegil just for tradition’s sake—yet it’s also a reminder of how precious and fragile life can be.
That reality hit us quite painfully 100 days ago today—when the South Korean ferry, the Sewol, sank while on its way to Jeju Island. It’s a story we’ve been following the past three months, from that first day when there were only two casualties reported. Hopes were initially high as a massive effort was said to be underway to rescue the 478 aboard, but then each day seemed to bring less hope of that miracle we all wanted to hear. Instead of good news, it was the captain who abandoned his ship, while never giving evacuation orders. The arrest of the surviving crewmembers, who now stand trial. The despair and sometimes anger of victims’ families wanting to know the truth behind what happened and why—and simply to recover the bodies of their loved ones. The suicide of the high school vice-principal weighted with survivor’s guilt. A president’s apology.
In the end, only 174 survived, with 294 confirmed dead and 10 bodies still missing at sea. Among the lost were three-quarters of an entire high school class.
May we take a moment of silence today to remember our brothers and sisters across the Pacific. This is a nation still in collective grief and engaging in some deep self-reflection about what could have been done differently.
Here’s a look back, in pictures and words, at the Sewol tragedy.
“Mom, I might not be able to tell you in person. I love you.” —A text message from a student (ABC)
South Korean ferry Sewol sinks in the sea off Jindo on April 16, 2014. (Reuters/Korea Coast Guard/Yonhap)
A relative weeps as she waits for missing passengers of a sunken ferry at Jindo port. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
“My daughter is out there, somewhere out there in the cold sea.” —an anguished mother (news.com.au)
Family members of missing people of the Sewol ferry accident shout the name of their missing relative, at Jindo-port on Jindo Island. (European Pressphoto Agency)
“If there’s any reason these families are holding up, it’s because they are hanging on to the string of hope that their loved ones may be alive. But we are seeing more people falling to the ground as time goes by.” —Kim You Seok, one of the psychiatrists who gave treatment and counseling to students, teachers and parents (Bloomberg)
Relatives wait for missing passengers of a sunken ferry at Jindo gymnasium. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
“My son so calmly followed the instructions. I felt no sense of alarm when we spoke. I regret not telling him to get out. It hurts. It hurts so much.” —Bang Ki Sam, a victim’s father (Bloomberg)
Army doctors attend one of parents whose children were aboard the Sewol ferry and are now missing, on the floor at a gymnasium in Jindo. (Ahn Young-joon/AP)
Relatives of a missing passenger from South Korean ferry ‘Sewol’, which sank in the sea off Jindo, cry as they wait for news from the rescue team, at a gym in Jindo. (Reuters)
“Bring me the body.” —Bae Sun-ok, of her child (Reuters)
South Korean Coast Guard officials post descriptions of bodies recovered from the ferry Sewol in Jindo. (Reuters)
Students at Danwon High School hold letters for students who are among the missing passengers of a South Korean capsized ferry. (AFP)
Buddhists release paper lanterns Saturday in a service for cherishing the memory of deceased persons and safe return of passengers aboard the sunken ferry Sewol during the Lotus Lantern Festival. (AP)
South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye pays tribute to victims of sunken passenger ship Sewol, at the official memorial altar for the victims in Ansan. (Reuters/Do Kwang-hwan/Yonhap)
“[Students are] constantly watching the news and crying, and going back and forth from the school, placing chrysanthemums and crying, and unable to do anything.” —a Danwon High School student, talking about how his peers were coping with the tragedy (AP)
A girl writes a message for victims from capsized passenger ship Sewol, at a temporary group memorial altar for the victims in Ansan. (Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji)
“There isn’t anything I can do but watch the sea from here. There’s no piece of rubble that I can help lift to save my kid.” —Bang Ki Sam, a victim’s father (Bloomberg)
A shoe left at Jindo harbour by relatives of a victim bears the message: “My dear, your friend bought you a beautiful pair of shoes; your mum, sister and brother are all waiting for you.” (AFP)
“His last words were, ‘I’m on my way to save the kids.'” —Ahn So-hyun, wife of ferry worker Yang Dae-hong (AP)
A weeping relative of a passenger aboard the sunken Sewol ferry prays as she awaits news on her missing loved one at a port in Jindo. (Ahn Young-joon/AP)
“Time has stopped. When I see students wearing school uniforms, I feel like my child will come back home and say, ‘Dad, I’m home.'”—a victim’s father (AP)
A relative of a passenger aboard the sunken ferry Sewol in the water off the southern coast, prays after releasing a paper boat with messages to wish for safe return of his missing loved one at a port in Jindo. (Ahn Young-joon/AP)
“We had time. If people had jumped into the water … they could have been rescued. But we were told not to go out.”—Koo Bon-hee, a businessman who escaped the ferry (AP)
Coastguard boats and search and rescue teams take part in recovery operations at night at the site of the sunken ‘Sewol’ ferry, off the coast of the South Korean island of Jindo. (AFPI)
“There have been so many varieties of irregularities that have continued in every corner of our society and practices that have gone wrong. I hope these deep-rooted evils get corrected this time and this kind of accident never happens again.” —South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won
South Korea’s Prime Minister Jung Hong-won, second from right, speaks to relatives of missing passengers aboard the Sewol ferry, which sank in the water off the southern coast, during a protest to demand a meeting with President Park Geun-hye, in Jindo. (AP)
“I am really sorry and deeply ashamed. I don’t know what to say.” —Lee Joon-seok, the Sewol captain who escaped the ferry
Ferry captain Lee Joon-seok was detained on suspicion of negligence and abandoning people in need. (AP)
“Don’t hold anyone else responsible but me. I’m the one who organized this trip. Burn my body and scatter it where the ferry sank.” —Kang Min-kyu, the vice principal of Danwon High School, in his suicide note
Family members holding the portraits of the victims of the sunken ferry Sewol, sit on a street near the presidential Blue House in Seoul. (Lee Jin-man/AP)
“People are descending into a collective sense of powerlessness, unable to trust the government with protecting them in emergency situations.” —an editorial in South Korean newspaper, the Chosun Ilbo
People holding yellow umbrellas in support of victims of the Sewol ferry disaster. (Reuters)
Parents of the children who died in the South Korea ferry sinking greet surviving students on their first day back at school since the disaster. (EPA)
“Just as we cannot forget them, we ask that the citizens of this country also never forget them.” —a surviving student, on his first day back at school (Daily Mail)
A student places a paper ship to pay tribute to the victims and missing passengers of the sunken ferry Sewol at a group memorial altar in Seoul. (AP)
