South Korea’s president apologises for ferry disaster, says she will disband coast guard ~ Dailyones

South Korea’s president apologises for ferry disaster, says she will disband coast guard

Tears rolling down her cheeks, South Korean President Park Geun-hye formally apologised on Monday for a ferry disaster that killed about 300 passengers, mostly school children, and said she would break up the coast guard for failing in its duties.

Park has been hit hard by an angry nationwide outcry over the government’s response to South Korea’s worst civilian maritime disaster in 20 years and the seemingly slow and ineffective rescue operation.

Polls show support for Park has dropped by more than 20 points since the April 16 disaster.

“I apologise to the nation for the pain and suffering that everyone felt, as the president who should have been responsible for the safety and lives of the people,” Park said in a televised national address, her first since the Sewol capsized and sank with 476 passengers and crew on board.

She fought back sobs as she remembered some of the teenagers who perished trying to help one another, calling them heroes in an unprecedented show of emotion.

Park, who is serving a single five-year term, is the daughter of Park Chung-hee, the former military strongman who ruled for nearly two decades in the 1960s and 1970s. She lost both her parents to assassins.

At least 286 people were killed and 18 remain missing. Only 172 people were rescued, with the rest presumed to have drowned.

Of the passengers, 339 were children and their teachers on a field trip from a high school on the outskirts of Seoul.
Park vowed sweeping reforms to improve oversight, as well as tough punishment for bureaucrats and businesses whose negligence endangers public safety.