This week’s blog entry will be about more serious than my previous entries. On April 16, a ferry capsized off the coast of South Korea. The ferry was carrying 475 passengers, most of them students from Danwon High School. According to Time and CBS, the death toll rose to 32. Many people are still missing, believing to be trapped inside the sunken vessel.
That will be the most I can say about the Sewol ferry disaster from the articles I have read online. I will link them at the end for anyone who wants to be updated. The articles have more details about what could have caused the ferry to sink, the arrest of the captain for abandoning the ship, and the suicide of the vice principal of the school.
I did not hear about the ferry disaster until a friend of mine told me after class. He heard the death count was at two but did not know anything more than that. When I returned to my dorm, I noticed exchange students in the lounge watching the news and even though it was in Korean they understood that something bad was happening. Hours later we found out music programs were not going to be aired and K-pop groups delayed their performances due to the ferry incident as news media focused on the disaster.
Yonsei University is several stops away from Ansan where the Danwon High School is located so there hasn’t been anything different here. People are still going on with their lives but it might be another story for those in Ansan. The news seems to be receiving little updates on the ferry other than what methods they plan to do to lift it up. Is the news a reliable source of information right now? Probably not since updates have not been frequent. However, it is a hard and frustrating time for the families of the missing people.
I decided to step away from the fun adventures to let readers know that a situation has occurred and it is affecting many people in Korea. These were high school students going on a trip to Korea’s most popular island, Jeju, and now most of them are missing. They were young and almost close to graduating. There were children younger than the students aboard that ferry. They were waiting to be rescued and maybe some still are waiting but that’s probably wishful thinking. Parents are distressed, waiting at the Jindo gymnasium and praying that their children return safely to them. Even though the area where I am staying does not show change, it is a sad time right now.