by STEVE HAN
South Korea’s two opposing political parties finally reached an agreement to pass three legislative bills Friday in response to April’s maritime disaster, which killed over 300 people inside the capsized ferry.
The agreement between the ruling Saenury Party and the opposing New Politics Alliance for Democracy will prompt an independent investigation to thoroughly identify the cause of the Sewol ferry’s sinking through a fact-finding committee and an independent counsel. They also agreed to hold discussions on how to compensate the victims and their families.
This bi-partisan agreement, which comes 199 days after the disaster occurred off of South Korea’s southwestern coast, will also shut down the operations of the country’s coast guard and the National Emergency Management Agency. Instead, the two parties will build two headquarters to oversee South Korea’s maritime security under the supervision of a new government office.
Initially, South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s announcement in May to scrap the coast guard was met with scathing criticisms, most of which accused her of trying to divert attention from the responsibility of her own regime.
The Sewol ferry capsized on April 16 and took the lives of 295 people while nine are still missing in the waters. Most of the victims are students from Danwon High School, who were on their way to a field trip in Jeju Island. The disaster sparked a public outcry in South Korea over the government’s lax safety standards and lack of response to the tragedy after it was revealed that the ferry’s captain and many of the crew members abandoned the ship after telling the passengers to stay put in their cabins.
Earlier investigations also revealed that the sinking was caused by a combination of cargo overloading, illegal modification of the vessel in addition to poor helmsmanship of the ferry’s crew members.
Over the last several months, many of the victims’ families took to the streets and some started an indefinite fasting to urge the South Korean government to pass the bill to fully investigate the cause of the disaster.
Featured image by Yonhap News Agency
