Days after South Korea’s president was removed from office, a ferry was lifted slowly from the waters where it sank three years earlier — a disaster
SEOUL – Days after South Korea’s president was removed from office, a ferry was lifted slowly from the waters where it sank three years earlier — a disaster that killed more than 300 people, mostly schoolchildren, and ignited public fury against Park Geun-hye and became a nationally polarizing issue.
The ferry’s recovery has raised the question of whether that process can bring closure to a country that was roiled and split by the ferry sinking. The quick answer would be: “Not completely.” And the ship’s recovery is now political fodder ahead of a May election to choose a new president.
What many South Koreans first want to know is whether the bodies of the nine missing victims are inside the hoisted Sewol wreckage and whether fresh causes of the sinking can be found.
Finding the bodies could help ease the pains of families desperate to have back their loved ones’ remains, though some critics of the recovery effort say the bodies may have already been swept away. Some relatives went to the scene on boats to watch the salvage work, which began Wednesday.
On Saturday, salvage crews loaded the corroded ferry onto a semi-submersible transport vessel, completing what was seen as the most difficult part of the massive effort to bring the ship back to shore.
Government officials say it will take a week or two to bring the vessel to a port 90 kilometers (55 miles) away so investigators can search for the remains of the missing people.
“We just got over one hump. … We are trying hard to stay calm,” Lee Geum-hee, the mother of a missing schoolgirl, told a television crew.
Once the ferry reaches land, about a month will be needed to clean it and evaluate it for safety. Investigators will then enter the wreckage and begin a three-month search for victims’ remains and for clues further illuminating the cause of the sinking.
Victims’ relatives and government officials disagree on how to proceed with the searches. The government favors cutting off the passenger cabin area and raising it upright before searching for the missing victims, while families fear that cutting into the ship might harm any victims’ remains.
