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21 Apr 2014

South Korea's Park: Ferry Crew Conduct Tantamount to Murder

South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Monday the actions of some crew of a ferry that sank with hundreds feared dead were tantamount to murder, as a four-year-old video transcript showed the captain promoting the safety of the same route. Sixty-four people are known to have died and 238 are missing, presumed dead, in the sinking of the Sewol ferry last Wednesday. Most of the victims are high school children. Captain Lee Joon-seok, 69, and two other crew members were arrested last week on negligence charges, with prosecutors announcing four further arrests - two first mates, one second mate and a chief engineer - on Monday. Lee was also charged with undertaking an "excessive change of course without slowing down" while traversing a narrow channel.

20 Apr 2014

Captain of Korean Ferry Praised Safety in Promotional Video

The captain of a ferry that sank off South Korea's southwestern tip with hundreds feared dead said in a promotional video four years ago that the journey was safe - as long as passengers followed the instructions of the crew. The irony is the crew ordered the passengers, mostly high school children, to stay put in their cabins as the ferry sank last Wednesday. As is customary in hierarchical Korean society, the orders were not questioned. However, many of those who escaped alive either did not hear or flouted the instructions and were rescued as they jumped off the deck. Sixty-four people are known to have died and 238 are missing, presumed dead in the upturned hull of the stricken Sewol ferry. Captain Lee Joon-seok, 69, and other crew members have been arrested.