The sinking of the Sewol ferry in April, 2014, claimed 304 lives, 250 of them students on a school field trip. Though the first anniversary has passed, however, the official investigation into the government's handling of the disaster has yet to begin. There are lingering questions regarding the role of the South Korean state, its authoritarian stance, the absence of the leadership and the neglect of duties during and after the tragedy. The bereaved families' grieving has been prolonged by the lack of investigation and by what they call the South Korean government's inaction and foul play. Unfortunately, as the issue became politicized and polarized the nation, the families’ voices have been largely muted, and the discourse on public safety has been lost amid political controversy. The scope of the disaster is so vast and the degree of injustice and indignity the families have been suffering is grave. I have been following the story for the past year and striving to tell their story to a larger audience. Sewol means "passing of time" in Korean. The bereaved families are still enduring the passing of time and continuing their solitary fight for truth and justice, while the South Korean public become increasingly impatient and hostile towards them.
