The families of those killed in April’s deadly ferry disaster said Sunday they are not opposed to a recent breakthrough deal that ended a months-long standoff in parliament over the incident.
The families “respect the difficult process to reach a compromise …, though the deal has limitations and problems,” Yoo Kyung-geun, the spokesman for the victims’ families, said in a news conference in Ansan, just south of Seoul.
The move came two days after the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy agreed to form a fact-finding committee whose chair is to be named by the victims’
families for separate investigations into the sinking of the ferry Sewol.
In another move to ensure the families’ voices are heard, the ruling party agreed to exclude any candidates for an independent counsel if he or she is explicitly opposed by the families.
Still, it remains unclear whether the planned separate probe by the fact-finding committee will reach a different conclusion from that of prosecutors.
Prosecutors believe the combination of cargo overloading, excessive remodeling of the ship and poor steering are to blame for the disaster.
On Friday, the rival political parties also agreed to dismantle the Coast Guard and the anti-disaster agency and create two headquarters responsible for maritime security and emergency management under the supervision of a new government office to be tasked with overseeing public safety.
The move underscored the parliamentary commitment to making South Korea a safer country following the April 16 ferry sinking that left more than 300 people dead or missing, mostly high school students on a school excursion.
Meanwhile, Cheonghaejin Marine Co., the operator of the ill-fated Sewol, has filed an administrative litigation to a local court seeking to revoke the cancellation of its license to carry passengers for a southern route, according to the maritime authorities in Yeosu, about 450 kilometers south of Seoul.
The maritime authorities canceled the license of Cheonghaejin Marine for the route in May, more than a month after the ferry Sewol sank off the country’s southwest coast. (Yonhap)
