According to several local newspapers in South Korea, the national mood has now shifted from grief to outrage over the handling of the South Korean ferry incident by its government.
The nation's largest circulation newspaper, Chosun Ilbo said in an editorial, "People are descending into a collective sense of powerlessness, unable to trust the government with protecting them in emergency situations."
Even known supporters of South Korean President Park Geun Hye are singing a different tune, Bloomberg observed. One of the three biggest papers of the country, Dong-a Ilbo newspaper, asked, "Does President Park finally understand the rage of people who say ‘we can't trust bureaucrats?'"
The ferry incident was touted to be the country's worst maritime disaster since 1970. The 'Namyoung' ferry then had killed 323 of its passengers then. The 'Sewol' ferry was reportedly carrying 476 people before it capsized. 108 bodies had since been found, and 174 passengers and crew were rescued on the day the boat sank. 194 are still unaccounted for, Bloomberg said.
The seriousness of the situation has lead the South Korean government sacking a ranking official who was involved in the rescue operation yesterday. The official reportedly took a commemorative photo at the site, which drew public outcry from grieving relatives and loved ones who were still awaiting news updates, presidential spokesman Min Kyung Wook said in Seoul to reporters.
Bloomberg said that at the moment, investigators are focusing on why the ferry had turned sharply before it sank. Prosecutors have said that third-ranked crew member steering the vessel and a helmsman who was on the bridge when the incident happened turned in different accounts of the ferry disaster. Captain Lee Joon Seok and seven of his crew were already arrested, and are facing charges including accidental homicide, Bloomberg said.
In a report of the a meeting with President Park and her senior secretaries yesterday released by the presidential office, Park had told her administration officials, "The actions of the captain and some crew members just cannot be understood with common sense. They are like murder and should not be tolerated."
