This year marks the 5th year anniversary of the Sewol Ferry tragedy and so I wanted to include it as my first cultural post. Sewol was a ferry that was en route from Incheon to Jeju Island in South Korea. At the time the ferry was carrying 476 people on the ship, which was over the max limit allowed by law. Of the 476 people, most of the passengers were students from Danwon High School who were there having a school field ship. On April 16, 2014 the ferry sank, killing 304 passengers and crew members on board. The captain of the ferry announced that passengers stay put in their rooms, even though the ferry was already tipping over. Although he advised people to stay in their rooms, the captain ultimately escaped and was rescued from the ship. This event caused uproar in Korea and caught the attention of the world. This event also started a protest to impeach President Park Geun Hye because of her negligence and lack of knowledge about the extent of the situation of Sewol. Although she was offered aide from both the U.S. and Japan, she rejected their help stating that people in Sewol would be rescued.
Artifact 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_A8dq2fA5o
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