PERSONAL: Ten years after South Korea's ferry disaster, a mother expresses her grief on stage

Record ID: 1820129

  • Title: PERSONAL: Ten years after South Korea's ferry disaster, a mother expresses her grief on stage
  • Date: 12th April 2024
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 58-YEAR-OLD LEE MI-KYUNG, WHO LOST HER SON IN 2014 FERRY DISASTER, SAYING: “Shouldn't we at least know why my precious child had to leave us like that? The truth and the facts need to be uncovered before we can let go, right? That's why there are so many questions about how that ship sank, so many doubts.” LEE LOOKING AT 2014 CALENDER CALENDER PAGE OF
  • Embargoed: 26th April 2024 08:29
  • Keywords: 10th anniversary Seoul Sewol South Korea families ferry disaster mother sea accident victims
  • Location: ANSAN, SOUTH KOREA
  • City: ANSAN, SOUTH KOREA
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Disaster/Accidents,Sea Accidents,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA009434911042024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:EDITORS NOTE: PLEASE REFER TO 2666-SOUTHKOREA-FERRY/FILE FOR SEWOL FERRY FILE FOOTAGE
    For Lee Mi-kyung, whose son was one of the 250 children who died in South Korea's Sewol ferry disaster 10 years ago, coping with the grief and anger has been incredibly hard. She works through her pain on stage.
    "I will no longer hide in darkness, nor be defeated by sorrow, nor cry in despair," Lee, 58, declares in a play in which seven mothers of children who died in the tragedy portray their journey of mourning.
    The play is one of five that Lee and other mothers have performed over the past eight years, each highlighting a different aspect of the tragedy.
    The mothers founded the Yellow Ribbon Troupe in 2016 and have since then performed over 250 times.
    Through the plays, they remember their children, mourn and renew calls for justice and answers as to how so many children - who were told to stay in the ship's cabins - died while the captain and crew escaped.
    This year, their play is titled ‘Yeonsok, Guk’ translating to ‘Continuing the Play’, and works as a serial drama in which mothers portray their individual journeys of mourning.
    The 6,800-ton Sewol ferry sank on April 16, 2014, with 476 passengers and crew onboard and 304 died, most of them high school children on an excursion to Jeju island.
    The scenes of the vessel sinking on live TV stunned the country and outrage has not abated over time.
    The ship's structure had been illegally modified and it was overloaded. Safety regulations were ignored and the vessel's speed and heavy load caused it to capsize. Rescuers were slow to reach the ship and were ineffective when they got there.
    The captain is serving a life sentence and other members of the crew are also in jail. But no other people have been found accountable. There have been a number of investigations and inquiries into the disaster but the mothers say none have provided the answers they are seeking.
    “Shouldn't we at least know why my precious child had to leave us like that? The truth and the facts need to be uncovered before we can let go,” Lee said, as she was flicking through her son’s yearbook and going through belongings in his bedroom.
    Lee says she spends a lot of time grieving for her son, Young-man, who was 17 when he died. She finds herself standing on the road where she saw him off to school that day.
    "He was much more affectionate than most girls, full of charm, incredibly tender and caring, always chattering away," she said.
    Large memorials are planned in Seoul on Saturday (April 12) and in the school at the children's hometown of Ansan on Tuesday (April 16) to mark the 10-year anniversary.
    They will also be thinking of the 159 mostly young people who died in a Halloween day crush two years ago, Lee said.
    "We have fought for ten years hoping that a system would be established to prevent such disasters. Yet, despite our efforts, the Itaewon disaster in 2022 saw the loss of many precious children and young adults," Lee said.
    Audience members said they were deeply affected by the mothers’ play, some seen wiping tears off their faces as resounding applause rang throughout the theatre.
    Right before heading in for the show, one audience member said that “seeing how people, despite such sorrow, stand strong and live on diligently gives me strength and encouragement.”
    (Production: Daewoung Kim, Hyunyoung Yi)
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