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Hunger Strike Relay in Gwanghwamun Square

-Struggle to Save the Sewol Investigation Commission

August 16, 2016

Lee Myungju

It’s been two weeks since the hunger strike to save the Sewol Investigation Commission began. On July 27th, Lee Suk-Tae, Chairperson of the Special Investigation Commission on 4.16 Sewol Ferry Disaster, announced the Commission’s plan to embark on a hunger strike against the government decision to dismantle the Special Commission.

July 27th was another hot and humid day. An afternoon shower began to pour. Reporters, who had been waiting for an arrival of Mr. Lee, ran into a makeshift tent to avoid getting soaked. When Mr. Lee arrived, he entered the memorial tent first to burn incense, a traditional act of commemorating the victims. The sound of camera shutters and flash filled the air around the Gwanghwamun Square.

“Today I stand here as one of the commissioners in the investigation team. I wish I could show you my team’s unswerving dedication to find the truth of the Seweol Ferry Disaster.”

That day, Mr. Lee began a hunger strike in protest of the unfair decision by the Park administration to terminate the Commission’s investigation activity as of June 30th. So far, neither the sunken ship nor the nine bodies have been recovered. Nevertheless, the government is firm on dismissing the Commission.

According to the Special Act on Investigating the Truth of the 4.16 Sewol Ferry Disaster and Building a Safe Society, the Commission is guaranteed of full 18-month investigation period. Now the controversy revolves around the starting date of the investigation. According to the Commission’s interpretation of the Sewol Special Act, the investigation period must be counted from September 2015 when they first hired investigators. On the other hand, the government insists that it should be from January 2015 when they first appointed high commissioners. Consequently, now the Commission is being forced to pack up and leave only after 9 months of actual investigation period.

As of June 30, the government has ceased to finance any funding to the Special Commission. The Commission is to be 120 members, but now there is 92 members left because the Commission has not been able to pay their employees since July. The number could fall further as the employees who need to support their families feel pressure from not being able to get paid. Now Mr. Lee and other employees are turning to the citizen’s support in order to continue what has begun.

However, the Blue House and the ruling Saenuri Party are reluctant to save the Special Commission. In fact, recently, President Park Geun-hye said, “The Special Commission’s investigation period cannot be extended because its extension will mean a great amount of tax money.” Some conservative media have denounced the Special Commission as ‘tax thief.’ Furthermore, Jeong Jin-Seok, floor leader of the Saenuri Party, also criticized the Special Commission. He mentioned, “Because the Commission has wasted a lot of tax money, its extension does not deserve to be discussed in the Assembly.”

In contrast, the three floor leaders from the opposition parties have agreed to bring the extension issue to the “one-point” temporary Assembly session in August. Moreover, a number of congressmen from the leading opposition party Theminjoo have been participating in the hunger relay at the Gwanghwamun Square to show their support.

In the evening of August 2nd, Lee Suk-tae ended a 7-day hunger strike. However, High Commissioner Kwon Young-bin, followed Mr. Lee’s fast for another three days; then, High Commissioner Park Jong-un fasted for the next three days. The relay is still continuing, now with more supporters from various civil societies.

Support from the civil society to save the Commission is mounting. On August 2nd, union members from the Nationwide Teacher’s Union made their pledge to join the hunger strike. As of August 9th, total 226 people have participated in the hunger strike in support of extending the Special Commission’s investigation period. The number of participants is still adding up every day despite the extremely hot daytime temperature reaching above 35 degree Celsius.

Chairperson Lee Suk-tae said, “Given the circumstances, we decided that hunger strike is the only way to truly demonstrate the crisis that the Special Commission is facing.”

“Sailing of the Special Commission has never been easy from the start. Yet, it is on the verge of sinking as the government tries to close it down which is a clear violation of the Sewol Special Act. Resorting to the citizens is our only hope. We’d like to mobilize your help. Please save the Commission so that we could reveal the truth of the disaster that killed 304 of innocent lives most of whom were high school students on their school trip. Furthermore, this investigation is quintessential for sailing Korea towards safer society.” Mr. Lee made an appeal to the public.

The struggle of the Special Commission against the government’s effort to deprive it of any power has always been tough. According to the Special Commission, the government had already cut the initial budget by 69% from the beginning.

Mr. Kwon Young Bin, one of the high commissioners, criticized the Ministry of the Oceans and Fisheries. The ministry, which now contains the former Coast Guard, has been refusing to answer to the controversy involving iron beam that the Sewol Ferry was secretly carrying in to the U.S. naval base in the Jeju Island on the day of the accident.

Also, the Ministry has not responded to the Special Commission’s demand to hand over the TRS information that contains communication record on the day of the accident. The Special Commission is concerned that it has no control over the process of salvaging the ship. The Ministry of the Oceans and Fisheries has contracted Shanghai Salvage, a Chinese Company, to salvage the Seweol Ferry. A strong suspicion is rising over the salvaging process as the ship is being allowed of damages while the victims’ families and the civil society oppose. They demand the ship to be salvaged in one complete piece given that it is the most important evidence. Thus, the discussion that it should cut into two pieces to ease the process enrages the public.

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