Friday, March 20th, 2015 Mobilizing Grief, Seeking Justice: a conversation with Sewol families

Description

On April 16, 2014, the Sewol passenger ferry carrying 476 lives capsized off the southern shore of South Korea. For reasons still unknown and to the shock of many who watched the tragedy unfold in the news, no real rescue effort was made to save the passengers. In total, 9 are still missing and 294 were killed, including 245 high school students (Grade 11) who were on a school field trip.

The bereaved families have emerged as important critical voices in demanding a full investigation into the allegations of gross negligence and government corruption that remain unexamined. They have become powerful and inspirational figures in broader movements for public safety and social justice despite growing apathy and smear campaigns.

The families have just begun a North American speaking tour to meet with supporters in more than 15 major cities. Coming to Toronto and Vancouver are two parents who lost their teenage daughters in the Sewol tragedy: Jisung Lee (Do eon Kim’s mother) and Jongbeom Park (Ye Seul Park’s father). They will meet with the Toronto-based group that has led an ongoing “relay hunger strike” in solidarity with Sewol families since August 2014 (Day 215 on March 20), and participate in discussions with activist and academic community to share their experiences of grief, outrage, and ongoing work for justice.

Professor Yoonkyung Lee, Associate Professor in the Sociology and Asian Studies at the State University of New York in Binghamton, will also give a presentation that interprets the Sewol disaster as a consequence of neoliberal deregulation and regulatory capture in areas of public safety management and disaster response. In particular, it will discuss 4 key points: (1) the deregulation of vessel management and safety assessment, (2) the privatization of rescue missions, (3) the expansion of temporary crew employees in the ferry industry, and (4) the state collusion with private business interests form the most egregious culprits of the Sewol accident. The talk concludes with thoughts on neoliberal deregulation, the role of public institutions, and the intrinsic tension between market interests and public interests.