SEOUL: South Korea yesterday recognised three people who died saving others in last month’s ferry capsize as national “martyrs” — lending a heroic chapter to a disaster narrative dominated by accusations of cowardice, corruption and incompetence.
The move came as the government revoked the operating licence of the owners of the ferry that sank with the loss of around 300 lives, citing safety violations by the company and crew.
The three part-time crew members hailed as martyrs included an engaged couple — Kim Ki-Woong and Jung Hyun-Seon — who could have escaped the sinking vessel but stayed to help trapped passengers. The third was Park Ji-young, 21, the youngest crew member, who became a public hero after it emerged that she had given her life jacket to a passenger as she sought to guide people to safety.
Being designated martyrs entitles them to burial at a national cemetery, and their families will be eligible for financial compensation, medical assistance and other incentives. The behaviour of the part-timers stood in stark contrast to the captain and most of the crew who were among the first to abandon ship and have been widely vilified for leaving trapped passengers to die.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said the license revoked yesterday was for the route taken by the ill-fated, 6,825-tonne Sewol from the western port of Incheon to the southern island of Jeju.
AFP
