Spring Day

April 16, 2014. One spring day in South Korea that the citizens will never forget.

On that day, the Sewol ferry was travelling from Incheon to Jeju. Most passengers boarded on the ship are students who are excitedly going to a field trip. Koreans were on their usual routine when the news shocked them that the ship sank at around 8:50 a.m. The nation was horrified, but at first, they were relieved when the media stated that all of the ship's passengers had been saved. It soon became evident, however, that this was not the case.

The Coast Guard and civilian divers worked together to save the passengers and prevent lost of lives, but they didn't get there in time. The public had no choice but to pray and watch as numerous passengers on the slowly sinking ship drowned in the rising water. Private fishing boats, according to accounts, rescued more passengers than the Coast Guard on the spot, prompting many Koreans to mistrust the agency's efforts. According to the final death toll, 304 of the 476 passengers were killed, while five of the bodies were never found. 250 of the 299 students who died were in their second year of high school.

The bereaved families were traumatized as well as the survivors. Imagine how difficult it is to accept the your love one will never come back in the most unexpected way. How are they going to welcome the spring every year?

After six years, there is one interview of one of the survivors. She narrated the tragedy and how she survived. Also, the event affected her life so much. She originally wants to teach but she shifted her profession as a person who work in medical emergency response. She said that, if only the emergency response that time is more helpful and faster, her friends will survive too. There is also a video that the crew announced that the students should stay in their rooms but they didn't let them outside and tell that the ferry is sinking. If only someone rescued them from their room, maybe her friends will survive too. She wanted to gain justice because not all the crews were punished since the main cause of the event is because the crew overloaded the passengers as they lied about the capacity of the ship. She said that the captain did the wrong thing as well since he's one of those who flee first, when in fact he should be guiding his passengers and let them escape. The family is still asking for justice until now tho the captain and other crew members are already in prison, there are still who are free.

A lot of books, songs, and poems were dedicated to this event to prevent the same thing from happening. One song that people suspects that is based on the Sewol Ferry Tragedy is BTS' Spring Day. Although the artists claimed that it is about longing, it is also from a sad event. Moreover, with ocean imagery, the cover art and song video references, it looks like it's connected to a tragedy in South Korea's history.

I also saw this on one of the articles that I read.

If February is the most painful month for me, to them it's April. I don't know about everyone but I hope even one of these months is the most painful, hope you still find way to heal yourself.

With love and curiousity,

curioscath, Charlotte