By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
A crewmember of the ferry that sunk off South Korea’s coast in April was granted temporary release from detention Thursday after the suicide of his daughter.
More than 300 people lost their lives or are still officially missing after the Sewol capsized April 16 -- most of the victims were teenagers on a school trip.
The trial of 15 crewmembers, including the vessel’s captain, who were able to escape the vessel when the majority of passengers were still on board began this month -- they are facing charges ranging from murder to negligence.
The country’s emotions had been stirred once more Wednesday by the widely publicized sight of 73 surviving pupils of Danwon High School returning to their studies near the capital for the first time since the Sewol disaster.
A day later, a prosecution official confirmed that one of the crew had been released in order to make funeral arrangements for his daughter who had taken her own life earlier in the day.
Details of her identity and age were not immediately available -- but a police officer in the southern city of Busan, where she was found, did make public the contents of a suicide note left for her husband.
"To become a public servant was my last hope, but I don't think that is my way," she wrote according to the officer. "Thank you for supporting me and I am sorry."
The message apparently referred to the years that the woman had spent preparing for a government exam.
As well as representing a tragic twist in an already bleak catalogue of stories related to the Sewol, the passing of the crew member’s daughter highlights pressing issues for South Korean society -- that of a highly competitive education system, intense career pressures and ultimately suicide.
The country’s suicide rate is among the worst globally, according to the World Health Organization, and the very highest of developed nations by OECD standards.
Ironically, Busan had become the first South Korean city to start monitoring people at high risk for suicide last year.
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