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10 things you need to know:

#1: The captain and his crew who abandoned ship after making an announcement for everyone to stay put are at fault for causing the accident.

There’s no question about this. The real question is, who is responsible for the deaths of almost 300 people following the accident?

#2: The Korean government did not have an effective central command unit in charge of emergency response at the time of the accident.

They also did not have a practical manual or strategic plans in place that could have been utilized immediately after the accident.

The whole disaster relief system was broken, which caused bungled rescue efforts in the first few of days since the ferry capsized. The government wasted its opportunity to save lives as the real rescue efforts did not start for nearly four days.

#3: The rescue efforts were stymied due to inclement weather and strong currents at the accident site, or at least that’s what the media/government kept emphasizing.

South Korea has the world’s best Navy (or so they claim), which has specialized units of trained men who can be called for mission at situations like this.

The Ship Salvage Unit (SSU) of the Navy is trained to dive into the worst possible environment and successfully accomplish any given mission.

Of all their record-breaking missions, the latest one was in December of 2012, when SSU divers had to salvage the remains of North Korean rocket Eunha3 from 88 meters underwater in the Yellow Sea.

They successfully retrieved the engine and fuel tank of the rocket. Why didn’t the Korean government call the SSU or UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) to join the rescue on day 2 or day 3 after the accident?

The ferry was only 34 meters underwater and the temperature was higher than in December. Instead, the government put the Coast Guard in charge of the rescue operation and proved its incompetence once again.

The Navy’s SSU and UDT were not called until several days have passed, which by then was too late.

[Sources: http://blue-paper.tistory. com/1181 and http://news.hankooki.com/ lpage/politics/201301/ h2013010609041821000.htm ]

#4: Korean mainstream broadcasting companies (KBS 1&2, MBC, and EBS) are state-owned.

Then there is the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), which oversees the contents released by all media companies, including the ones commercially owned. Historically, chairmen of KCC have been members of the Grand National Party appointed by the president, and they have power to suspend programs or people running programs that air contents of which KCC would determine as “inappropriate.” Here’s the problem: state-owned mainstream media and the KCC, which is not an independent agency but a subordinate organization of the Blue House, naturally creates an environment that allows the President and the government to exercise their power over the press.

Unsurprisingly, the mainstream media were uniformly reporting the same stories and showing same footage following the ferry accident.

These broadcasting companies focused their coverage on the captain and his crew, neglecting to question the reasons behind failed rescue operations and the responsibilities of the government.

Only the independent news agencies (typically those online) questioned what the government has really done to save lives.

These independent news agencies also had interviewed with the families of the victims and aired it online without making any edits so the public can see what the families are really going through.

The families were distraught by the slow rescue operation, unsupportive government, and fabricated mainstream news coverage about the rescue efforts.

Korean mainstream media serves as the government’s mouthpiece and can longer be a watchdog for the public. Sadly, majority of the public turn to mainstream media for news and are being blinded from the truth.

#5: The above point on government-controlled media is backed by the fact that a Korean embassy consulate Yoon Jong Suk stationed in Berlin tracked down and contacted German-Korean journalist Jung Ok Hee who wrote a piece on Die Zeit about the SK Ferry disaster.

Mr. Yoon pressured Ms. Jung to make edits to her published article as it contains a paragraph criticizing President Park’s behavior following the accident.

Ms. Jung was furious that a Korean government official is demanding such a thing when she is not even a Korean citizen.

She is currently talking to her lawyer about this. This incident portrays how the current Korean government thinks of journalists and the press.

They think it’s easy to control the media as long as they’re “Korean”.

[Sources:

http://www.berlinreport.com/ bbs/board.php?bo_table=free& wr_id=85677 <– the first comment is written by Ms. Jung’s acquaintance who was asked by Ms. Jung to share this on the website. Ms. Jung also posted on her own Facebook page about this. http://bbs1.agora.media.daum. net/gaia/do/debate/read?bbsId= D101&articleId=4722252 <– the translated article posted on Daum Agora website http://www.zeit.de/ gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/ 2014-04/suedkorea-faehre- schiff-unglueck-angehoerige- aerger <– Ms. Jung’s article on Die Zeit

#6: Two days after the accident, Journalist Son Suk Hee at JTBC, who runs News 9, invited a deep-sea diving expert Lee Jong-In as a guest speaker on his program.

Mr. Lee talked about an equipment called a diving bell that could be used underwater for rescue even in tough sea environment with strong current as is in Jindo. After the interview was aired, the public started asking why the government is not using said equipment, that they should at least try anything in their power to enhance the rescue efforts.

Mr. Lee even contacted the government several times and offered that he would provide the diving bell, divers, and all the equipment needed to help with the rescue. He was turned down each time. Journalist Son Suk Hee was then put under investigation by the KCC for “spreading inaccurate information and causing confusion to the public.”

[Sources: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=N5BgOJ-XNLY and http://news1.kr/articles/ 1644131 ]

#7: Families of the lost ones were sickened by the mainstream media of releasing disingenuous stories about the rescue efforts (i.e. news reports claiming that the rescue efforts with over 150 boats and 500 divers at the accident site have begun was released BEFORE the rescue operation had even started.

When families at the port went to see it for themselves, there were only 6 boats and a few divers at the accident site not performing rescue operation due to the lack of equipment needed for the rescue).Parents of the missing children started using Twitter and Facebook to let others know about the truth, but their posts were deleted by the government.

They were told by government officials that their posts will be “examined by the experts.”

Apparently, South Korean government monitors private Facebook and Twitter accounts of these poor parents who lost their children, and blocks them from writing posts about what’s really going on.

Freedom of speech, right to know, and freedom of press all went out the window.

[Source: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=l2ReRF5-ybM] <– this video was deleted many times when people in Korea uploaded on Youtube/Facebook. Someone outside of Korea uploaded again hopefully it won’t get deleted again. The woman in this footage is a mother of one of the missing students. She is saying that the mainstream media is making stuff up and adding false information to their news coverage. She took a fishing boat and went out to the accident scene on 4/17. What she saw was how the divers did not have sufficient equipment needed for the rescue and they would swim back up to the surface right away after diving. <Translation of her words after the aforementioned comments> “Civilian divers came and demanded that they go in to help, but the government did not authorize it. However, the mainstream media is reporting that the civilian divers joined the rescue team to help with the effort, that the government has okay-ed it. The first day of the accident, there was no rescuing effort whatsoever due to the false report saying everyone was rescued. The weather was fine that day. They could have saved 80% of those now trapped in the Ferry. The second day, we realized that it was a false report and we all demanded that they go rescue our children right away. The officials kept blaming the weather saying it’s impossible.

The mainstream news is now saying that a diver successfully went inside the ferry near the cafeteria. We have parents out there on the boat seeing with their own eyes what’s happening. We talk to them over the phone all day to get information. They’re saying that the diver didn’t even reach the ferry, and there was no air pump connected yet. But the media reported that the diver successfully got inside and pumping the air! The parents at the accident site are saying that they’re now just preparing to dive in and attempt to connect the hose for air pump.

The whole country is watching the mainstream media, including President Park. They don’t know that they are being lied to! We asked that we talk to President Park. We were told that if she comes to Jindo again, all the rescue efforts will be stopped for several hours like it did yesterday and our children might die. So we requested that they just let us talk to her over the phone so we can tell her that the reports she’s receiving are entirely false.

The government officials that we are talking to are not even trying to call higher authorities. No one is helping us and they’re just wasting time! Why can’t they call someone? Why is no one helping? How can you call that a President?

She came yesterday and had an interview and then what? Nothing! We don’t need apologies, we don’t need the reports of how many are missing — we already know that even that information is inaccurate. If the government officials can’t even understand how us parents feel, how can they work for Korean people?

I can’t trust the media. We’re all posting on our Facebook real time images and information so the word can spread. All our Facebook posts are being deleted right away! Within 2 seconds! I don’t know who’s doing it, who’s blocking it but it’s gone. I can’t trust the media.

[the man next to her jumps in and says “we were told that our facebook posts will be run by the “experts” and censored. Why are they doing that? it’s our private accounts, private life. How can they do that?”

I understand that it’s hard to dive in. I was out there in the sea on a boat and saw the waves. I understand that since the Coast Guard doesn’t have enough equipment needed for deep diving, they can’t go in to the rescue. But then, why aren’t they allowing civilian divers who came with all the equipment that they would need to join the rescue ? Why are they waiting around for an authorization from the higher ups?? Our kids are dying!! Why do they care so much about the system and getting permission and all that right now, when they don’t even have the ability to manage this situation?

#8: Experts (professors of Nautical/Marine Science at top Korean universities) who were actively interviewed and cited by various online news outlets all stopped taking interview requests in the week following the accident.

An anonymous professor told a reporter at Nocutnews that he received a lot of pressure from intelligence agencies (i.e. National Intelligence Service) to stop talking to the media, especially if what he would say could hurt the image of the current administration. Again, freedom of speech, freedom of press, right to know taken away. [Source: http://www. nocutnews.co.kr/news/4011536]

#9: After a week has passed since the accident happened, the “rescue” efforts have become more active and divers were retrieving double digit numbers of dead bodies every day.

Did the current at the accident site magically got weaker than the week of the accident? No.

Did the visibility underwater has magically became clearer? No.

The environment at the accident site is not far from how it was in the first week, but for some reason the Coast Guard could dive in and retrieve the bodies, nonstop and around the clock. Why then did they not do this in the first week? Why did they let time pass and let the 300 innocent children drown to death? Didn’t they say that they had only 2 hours of window when the current becomes less strong in the first week? How are they diving in at any given time of the day a week later?

#10: Dead bodies of the students retrieved during the second week following the accident were surprisingly clean and recognizable.

Families of the students were convinced that the children were alive for several days before losing their lives. French news outlets have aired the footage of the dead bodies, and the hands and feet of the dead students looked nothing like the ones that belong to someone who had drowned in water for over a week.

[Source: http://www. francetvinfo.fr/monde/ pacifique/naufrage-en-coree- du-sud/video-naufrage-en- coree-du-sud-trois-premiers- corps-ont-ete-remontes_581405. html]

We believe that the South Korean government is ultimately responsible for elevating what was a dangerous accident into a tragic national disaster. We believe that most of the missing or dead children could have been saved had the government agencies acted more efficiently and swiftly together, or had the President exercised her executive power to appoint the right people in charge immediately following the accident. Instead, the government exercised its power to hide the truth from the public by controlling the media and manipulating public sentiment.