By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
The head of South Korea’s ruling Saenuri Party called on Sewol ferry disaster victims’ family members Wednesday to reconsider their rejection of a bipartisan deal that would end weeks of stalemate between the country’s main political rivals.
On Tuesday the ruling camp had celebrated an agreement with the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) – that would have met the families’ demand for a special investigation into April’s disaster, which left 300 people dead or unaccounted for.
Within hours the deal broke down because family members were reportedly unhappy about the ruling party being able to put forward two candidates to join a seven-member panel tasked with choosing nominees to lead the probe.
Even though the NPAD and families were to be offered the right to approve the Saenuri Party’s candidates, the issue proved to be a sticking point.
One of the victims’ relatives told Yonhap News Agency: “The committee for the bereaved families gave guidelines to Saenuri Party head Kim Moo-sung… but these demands were not recognized in the deal.”
Kim responded at a press briefing Wednesday – ahead of an expected statement by the Sewol victims’ families later in the day.
The Saenuri Party leader explained that it was a legal requirement for the ruling camp to select two members of the panel, and complained that other important bills were being held up because the country’s parliament “is currently stuck in the Sewol ferry black hole.”
“I urge the grieving family members to accept the agreement, which was a very difficult process,” Kim told reporters.
Relatives of the Sewol victims – most of whom were high school students – have been intensifying their campaign for justice in recent weeks.
One father of a 16-year-old victim has been on hunger strike for more than 30 days – having also been joined by other family members and public figures.
A murder trial is already underway as the captain of the vessel and three senior crew members are accused of abandoning ship without making sufficient efforts to evacuate – 11 others from the Sewol’s staff are facing negligence charges and a separate legal process is ongoing concerning allegations that the ferry’s operator failed to meet safety guidelines.
The summer has seen twists in the post-Sewol fallout, including a tearful apology from President Park Geun-hye and the discovery of the decayed body of the vessel’s de facto owner, Yoo Byung-eun.
Key officers from the police and prosecution have lost their jobs over a bungled investigation that allowed Yoo to initially evade the authorities for weeks.
Whether a further special probe can go ahead now rests in the hands of the victims’ relatives and the main rival parties, who are expected to hold an extraordinary parliamentary session next week.
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