Yellow Ribbons

   


Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 
















On 16 April 2014, the MV Sewol, a Korean passenger ferry, set out from Inchon, headed to South Korea's Jeju Island, a popular recreational destination for South Korean and other Asian countries.  Most of the passengers on board were high school students from Ansan, a city near Inchon, headed off on school trips to Jeju.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Something caused the ship to tilt sharply, perhaps a sharp turn by the inexperienced 3rd Mate who was steering.  Then, because the ferry company had been regularly overloading the ship, because they had modified the ship to carry more passengers and cargo, possibly without proper design or governmental inspections, and because the heavy vehicles on board were inadequately secured, the cargo shifted suddenly, the ship listed sharply, and began taking on water.
 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

There are allegations of criminal neglect by the ferry company and crew, causing the incident, and also of a criminally negligent response to the emergency by the crew, which delayed efforts to get help, delayed efforts to get passengers off the sinking ship, and resulted in the deaths of more than 300 of the students.  Several from the crew abandoned ship ahead of passengers, and are now being held, charged with crimes as serious as murder.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

In addition, the people of Korea are angry at the poor response of the Korean Coast Guard.  Charges of failure to adequately inspect vessels, failures to have ship's crews adequately trained for emergencies, and failures to quickly respond to the emergently are flying amid an angry, emotional reaction by the Korean public.  
 


Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The Korean Prime Minister has resigned, and this past week, a tearful Korean President Park proposed to completely dismantle the Korean Coast Guard as an entity, and reassign its functions to other agencies of government. 
 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 
As I walked around Seoul last week, I saw many small memorials, scattered around the city,

many consisting of Yellow Ribbons, with names, wishes and prayers written on them.

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

  The biggest I saw, was in front of Seoul's City Hall where a sea of small,

yellow paper boats set sail on the large lawn,

with ribbons fluttering in the breeze, all around the area.

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

 

 

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

One of the toughest things to take here, were imprints,
in yellow paint, of the shoe of some of the victims.
Very emotional.

 

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 
 
There were 20 or 25 boards where people had posted sketches,
photos, and other memorials.   
 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 
Zooming in on this one, you see a sketch of an anguished mother,
a photo of a sunset, where the outline of a candle has been drawn around the setting sun...
 


Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

...but In the cartoon, you don't have to speak Korean to know the meaning,

when you see an image of a crew escaping before the young passengers.

 
 
 Another memorial, just next to my hotel.

 

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Folks all around the world are shocked by the tragedy. 
Expressions of sorrow have come in
from many people, leaders, countries. 
 

Koreans have responded to the tragedy

with a mixture of anger,

embarrassment, sorrow and loss.

 

Our thoughts are with them

as so many families

try to find a way forward.

                                                                      - Mark W. Laughlin
                                                                              25-May-2014