What shocks me about this tale to no end is that the captain could’ve screamed “ABANDON SHIP”, flail his arms in the air, and immediately hop overboard… And that would’ve been *better* at saving lives than what he actually did.
@businessbuilder92 They did mention that they were afraid the passengers moving about the ship would worsen the list and hence why they kept telling them to remain in their quarters. It's disgusting and abhorrent. At the point when saving the ship was no longer an option, they should've ordered to abandon the ship. Heck, even before that point.
This is a shining example of what an investigative documentary should entail: straightforward facts, pictures, raw footage & diagrams all in a play-by-play of the incident.
@@TracyA123 those appeals work tho. The video has only 3k likes for 60k views at this time if writting, meaning less people watch it. It wasn't the algorithm that brought me here for example, but a thread on reddit and I only liked because you reminded me to.
This story is so famous in Korean, I visited in 2019 and still so many people had the yellow bow pins and attached to their mobile phones. You have honoured all the victims by making sure their story is told, especially in English. This tragedy and the government cover up/failures needs to be known and your efforts in making these two videos goes a long way towards doing that. 삼가 고인의 명복을 빕니다 to all who lost their lives.
I've been a teacher here for 14 years, and been in the same high school now for 7 years and I can tell you it's still a big thing on April 16th. Students from almost all high schools have events of remembrance and they're broadcast on national TV channels. I hope that Korea learns from this and we don't have the government cover up and failures that we saw on the day and after. A few years ago, the parents of a student tragically lost in the Sewol sinking came to my school to talk to the students. There were no dry eyes after. Action has to follow emotions.
What makes me so sad is they had one of the most capable and professional navy's on the planet right there ready and willing to respond with its full weight and they said no. As an American we just take for granted the professionalism of the US Coast Guard (and navy in this case) and we just "know" that when we call for a rescue that the very best people in the field are going to do their very best to rescue us. The abject corruption that was rotting the ROK coast guard as recently as 8 years ago just blows my mind. And it makes me want to take a moment to say thanks to those US (and other national) coast guard units that *do* take their job seriously and are willing to risk life and limb to save people they have never met. Im reminded of the stark differences seen between this and the flooded cave rescue in Thailand. How after a few days of failed attempts they (the government) fairly quickly roped in highly skilled cave divers and let them run the show. They knew what the priority was, the lives of those trapped in the cave. There is no "loss of face" in realizing your out of your depth and bringing in subject matter experts to fill out those gaps in skill and knowledge. In fact I consider it testament to their skill as leaders to do so and be willing to do so. To the Korean public, don't let them forget. Mistakes and accidents happen, how you respond to them though says everything about you and your administration.
Henry, you said the South Korean Navy was disgraceful because it said "no." You forget that their armed forces...all branches, are headed by a civilian, and that civilian is subordinate to the Commander in Chief of the armed forces. Their command structure is modeled after ours, and all the armed forces are commanded by civilians. So if the civilian leaders said no, the admirals salute, and carry out their orders. That is not "disgraceful," that is the Constitution working as it should. You may not agree with it, but that is Constitutional government. John, Master Chief, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
Can you imagine how hair tearingly frustrated the soldiers on that amphib carrier must have felt? They crewed a ship DESIGNED for emergencies like this and have training for situations like this...and due to diplomatic protocols got to watch several hundred kids suffocate and/or drown from about 300 yards away...
No yeah and the fact the American volunteer divers when they went to survey the wreck to plan how they would recover the body's and the fucking Korean agents that went with them just came along to get in the way and fuck with the divers equipment tells me that the only reason those Korean guys went with was probably to just brake the divers equipment to make it look like the US divers were not experienced just so the Korean government could get an excuse to drop the US divers from the rescue so they could in turn make it look like US divers were the one just getting in the way so the korean officials could try to still salvage their already dumpsterfire of a reputation while inturn trying to shame the US government.......anyone else notice how this seems to always happen with the US almost every time we offer any country that has a government with a stick up their own ass any sort of help! Maybe we should just stop offering those particulars countrys help and just wait for them to ask us for help instead just to prove a point to them. I'm just saying it might help dislodge those sticks up there~
With other ships as well. LHDs like the Bonnie Dick don't travel alone, they almost always form the center of an expeditionary strike group with other ships like guided-missile destroyers and other landing ships.
One of the worst parts is that both the US Navy and the Japanese Cost Guard were ready to go on day one but were told by ROK navy that they were not needed. If both the US and Japan could have gotten in the story would have been one of how strong the bonds were between the three countries and how many lives were saved... it just boggles me why no one asked for help, why they didn't want to get in there to save people. I really don't understand it.
The government had nothing to gain and everything to lose, and they still decided to do nothing. Even thinking about it in the most selfish way I can, I still can't come up with a reason not to attempt a proper rescue.
Ego? Pride? Weakening a negotiating position maybe ? Who knows Some years ago here in Canada we had vast forest fires on the border with the USA Canada is an enormous wilderness nation with firefighting resources stretched thin Fires were consuming a community on the border with America and the American government offered help The Canadian government declined… and many people lost everything Seems natural to humble yourself and accept assistance from a friendly neighbor who’s better equipped to deal with the problem you’re facing But our governments don’t care about us… they don’t serve us We are peasantry to them
May Mr. Kim, the one who went to find the kids and bring them home, may his soul be quieted and resting in Eternal Peace. PTSD is so brutal. He is a martyr, a hero.
Definitely. I'd be curious to know if he was given access to counseling or other mental health services, or if that's even a thing that exists in South Korea for conditions such as PTSD. The man in the meeting towards the end of the video mentioned something along those lines (presumably offered to victims' families?). If not, and he killed himself, it's another element of the administration's willful incompetence and cruelty. I can only imagine the horrors he relived whenever he was alone and it breaks my heart for him.
I can’t even begin to imagine how the parents felt. Being told your child/children are safe only to find out they hadn't even been looked for and were still on the ferry, which was now completely under the water. Such a heartbreaking thing to happen.
I saw an interview where one parent got a call and told their kid to just do as instructed and stay in place until help arrived. I can't imagine the heartbreak. How could the captain and crew be so cowardly?
This is really hard and sad to hear. I was on the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) who was near by when this happened. We were ready and able to help. Attached to VMM 265 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft, the narrative giving to us was that everything was under control and we were not needed. It pains my heart that this was not the case at all. That we could have helped and more importantly saved the life’s of many people that did not need to die on that day. Thank you for making this documentary, and bringing clarity to this event. RIP to the souls lost that day.
If only the officials had some grace and humility, the Bonhomme could have saved hundreds. Absolutely disgraceful actions of behalf of the South Korean government May you find peace and know that you and your comrades did the right thing with the information provided.
As a first responder my heart broke I know full well the pure gut wrenching anguish felt when your told to do nothing, your mind is screaming No, we have to help, we can't sit here and do nothing...suits in Gov don't get it the World over there the same business like and cold hearted...Sadly there was nothing anyone could do, fate played her hand held by the incompetence of hundreds of people on that day and in the days to follow...hopefully some good comes from this tragic event and lessons are learnt so another Ferry disaster doesn't occur in Korea
There was a similar issue with a major air crash in Japan: The US was offering to go and check the crash site, but the officials didn't want to ask for help. The survivors made it very clear that many passengers survived the crash - and went silent in the night. This 'honour' bullshit should be seen for what it is - cowardice in the face of adversity, a failure to lead and taking responsibility for the situation. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Air_Lines_Flight_123
Just shows that you can't trust anyone on the high seas and should get closer and involved (within the limits of your own ship's safety) regardless what anyone else says.
Edd Sorenson who is a world renowned cave diving rescuer offered to help. The US navy had him on stand by. He is known for his many live and body rescues from underwater caves. Many say he is the best in the world. He fuels and flies his own plane and refuses any payment. He is the definition of a Hero. Also he was on stand-by for the Thailand class stuck in the cave. And eventually had to rescue one of British divers who rescued those kids. Philtec which are a group of rescue divers from the Philippines offeres assistance. It makes me cry thinking how those children might have thought no one cared enough. I wish we could tell that so many people around the world would have sacrificed themselves to save them.
Edd Sorenson is a personal hero of mine as an aspiring cave diver and tech diver. He not only does the things he does, but he does not seek publicity. If you listen to him talk about some of the rescues he’s done, he’s so chill and calm, like he’s talking about breakfast.
Edd is one of my favorite people (only learned about him through various videos last year). I’ve always been terrified of cave diving but I’ve definitely been in unauthorized/unmarked dry caves in the Appalachian range before and if one of those suckers filled up with water while I was inside- I’d want him on site. In fact, just tell me he’s there even if he isn’t and that will at least keep me from despairing in the darkness.
This was not just incompetence. This was not just cowardice. This was not just selfishness. This was not just corruption. This was apathy. This was abhorrent. This was cruel. This was inhumane. None of the victims or their families deserved any of this.
This was failure to lead, and failure to act. This was a failure of culture: and that failure is the worst thing a man can do to himself. A man does better than this. A woman does better than this. It is sad and disgusting and an insult to our shared humanity.
The vile actions of so many people involved in every part of this disaster are nothing short of evil. They come off like a bunch of sociopaths and I don’t know how they can live with themselves.
@@ihanakaunotar2741 hundreds of people died horrible deaths and you’re comparing what they went through to animals..? i really hope none of the loved ones of the victims see your tactless comment. read the fucking room.
This 'homemade' documentary is so much more detailed and nuanced than anything professional I've seen so far. Excellent work. No sensationalism, no fancy CGI, just a detailed rundown. Thank you.
For many years, I lived in Korea and worked as a university professor there. The Sewol disaster didn't surprise me, or any of my Korean friends. There is a culture of gaming the system, bribes to look the other way and a very strong Old Boys Network. In any such disaster, the first instinct of the those in authority is, "How can I can I offload responsibility?" Losing face is an enormous social ill in Korea. In this case, it was more important than the lives of children. Korea is the most Confucian culture in the world and the good kids did what they were told. The ones who disobeyed their "seniors" (sum-bae) lived.
After the Sampoong department store collapse. it is the same old story….corruption, disaster, outrage and then changes. And after a sufficient amount of time have passed, things started reverting back and then we get hit by another disaster.
How are they saving face though? They already lost it. In my opinion, the only way to earn back respect is to admit your faults and do the best you can to repair the situation. But I guess that's why I'm not a politician, I have morals.
How ironic. The behavior that mindset promotes does anything but "save face" to the eyes of the observer. Hard to believe the Korean people would be so naive and lacking of self-awareness to think that irresponsibility and immature mendacity would be positive cultural traits.
At 44:50 the man begging the round table of government officials for wanting to know the truth of his son before his death - followed by pleading for the good future of his country struck me almost as hard as any other issue outline in this documentary. I wish with all my heart that man found peace.
I felt tears rolling down my cheeks watching him go down on his hands and knees, sobbing and begging. The cultural context and implications of doing this especially when pride, face, shame and family name are heavily empphasized, I cannot even begin to explain to you. All I can say is, it hurts so fucking hard. It really really hurts.
I spent 30 years in the US Coast Guard the majority doing Search and Rescue. If I was driving the small boats approaching the ferry I would have told the on scene commander that my crew is going aboard to check for survivors not asked for permission. Thankfully that is how the USCG trains their crews. Trained to take action. God bless the victims.
I'm not in the coast guard but me being an American in the ship I would have gotten everyone I could up for rescue after the ship listed past 50° in my mind I would think someone has to do something in the ship. This is a very sad tragedy on Korean chain of command and government.
“We weren’t all rescued. I think we escaped by ourselves. [. . .] They said they were going to rescue us, and we thought they would really do so. Since they were bringing helicopters and the coast guard, we thought it wouldn’t be a big deal. But now we can‘t be with our beloved friends, and we can’t ever see them again no matter how much we miss them for the rest of our lives. What was it that we did wrong? If there was something that we did wrong, I think it was getting off the Sewol ferry alive.” [...] “We have remained silent even though we were the victims because we lacked the courage because we were afraid of being criticized as in the past. But now we intend to take courage, too. Someday, when we meet our friends once again, we hope to be able to proudly tell them that we made sure that the people who separated us from our friends were held responsible, that we made those people pay the price.” Remarks by students who survived the sinking of the Sewol ferry at a candlelight rally held on Jan. 7, 2017 This is the same generation that was once again failed by their government during last year's Halloween crush at a popular nightlife district in Seoul, South Korea. The majority of those victims were in their 20s. The same age as those lost on the Sewol if they had survived.
this is somehow just a continuous string of "not only did they not do what they should have done, but they did everything they could to harm the rescue effort"
I never knew just how bad this was. This was beyond negligence, it was cruel. The crew that stayed on board were heroes. This is the first one of your documentaries to make me cry. And I could hear it in your voice on that last line. Thank you for making these videos, and giving us the truth with respect to those affected by it. Those kids will not be forgotten.
Yeah, me neither. I was like an off-and-on K-POP fan. In my ignorance, I was very confused about what the big deal was back then. I only heard the initial report that stated everyone was rescued. I couldn't understand why news about Sewol Ferry kept coming up every now and again and was too ignorant to have the desire to learn.
This tragedy made me think of the Costa Concordia sinking in Italy: a coward captain and some crew members left leaving passengers and rest of the crew in a desperate situation. At least the Coast guard took control of the thing coordinating the rescue operation and saving 4197 people... 32 died and it's still an unacceptable tragedy. In the Sewol disaster even the coast guard refused to act waiting for someone else to do their job. The government proudly refused help offered by US and Japan. These poor kids died because captain, crew and coast guards failed them. The worse is they could have saved all of the 304 kids. They were in the golden hours reachable and not too many to save. The then Korean government trying to cover up his incompetence is really a no comment matter. Eternal thanks to the divers.
At least there the coast guard was competent and was telling the captain he's a POS. Funny thing is his last name Schettino pronounced Skattino is close to a term in russian for livestock (скотина)...which is used as a derogatory term for people that are POS. So as a Russian speaker his last name was very fitting.
At least the Italian Coast guard seemed to have acted quickly and professionally. There is the famous phone call of a Coast GuardCaptain yelling at the cowardly Concordia Captain in the life boat to get back on board and do various rescue tasks…which he did not do. This Korean rescue effort was awful start to finish.
You can't even compare the two situations. The Sewol disaster highlighted and exposed major flaws that span the entirety of South Korean government and society itself and have seen zero improvement since then.
As a retired emergency services director, it's painfully obvious this incident was an epic cluster f*ck on so many levels. I'm deeply saddened by those who died and my heart goes out to all the families who lost loved ones. Thank you for posting and be safe 🙏
And it got worse. When it was pulled up to the Mohkpo docks, none of the families were allowed anywhere near it - not even to see it. They were barred, locked out by security fences and surrounded by riot police. The pleading got so bad one of the police guarding the dock also burst into tears. But none of them got in.
@@Suisfonia The real problem wasn't the biohazards; the real problem was that a) it was a wreck and thus inherently dangerous, and b) it also was a giant crime scene and they wanted nothing disturbed or contaminated as they started removing evidence, i.e., they didn't want the parents pawing through the cell phones and other artifacts they took off the ship in search of a burial memento. But the optics were still HORRIBLE. These parents had fought one of the most corrupt governments in Korean history; to deny them their due at the port just was insult added to grievous injury.
I would get the standing a the port or as close as they can get to the ferry to watch it. But to be able to step into it would be way to dangerous. It is a crime scene, it is a biohazard and they did end up finding the remains of one of the missing students in there as well. Most of the phones and any personal belongings were already brought up when search and rescue was going on after the accident. If there were any phones they would have already been brought up given that there are videos from students before the ferry actually sunk. @@ArchTeryx00
I hope this gets translated and viewed, not only in South Korean, but globally. It's not just about this tragedy, but how people working together can topple a corrupt government. Something that needs to be done in many other countries. Thank you for this series.
@@tc1225 also sadly, UA-cam used to have “community contributed captions”, but they removed them some time ago, I suppose when they introduced the computer-generated captions (which I admit are astonishingly good even under the most difficult circumstances where I can’t even decipher the English audio myself due to strong accent or poor audio quality).
I got no issue doing it for spanish for both p1 & p2. I know i can pull the transcripts and the time stamps for both. @brick immortar would have to be the one to upload it though.
Not to divert the topic but, the Philippines also had this "people working together can topple a government" during the EDSA revolution in the mid 1980s. Unfortunately the family that were rejected that time is now currently our president. I hope that the Sewol Incident will make a lesson for the koreans to never again elect these officials and may the story not be twisted someday , in their favor, by fake news
You really outdid yourself on this one. The amount of work you put into this really shows so hats off to you. It can be difficult to objectively cover the technical details while respecting the human cost.
At first, I wondered if breaking this story into two parts meant that it would be filled with lots of filler material. However, I discovered that every bit of information was necessary to paint the whole picture. The documentary was well done, organized, and riveting. Nice job.
This whole story is unfathomably sad, but the thing that always baffles me is how the captain can live with himself - as a man, as an adult, as a human being - after running off and leaving those kids like a 🙀? The guilt and shame would probably kill me if I did something like that.
Probably a huge amount of lying to himself, making it somehow not his fault. "I was just in a bad situation. Everyone expected too much from me. Everyone was incompetent too. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Stuff like that. That, or a he's a literal psychopath.
He would not kill himself AT ALL. He only thought about his own safety during the crisis. He was not a caption but a extreme selfish monster. He was a killer, a cold blooded killer.
Can’t say for the Captain, but some people lack a sense of empath: the idea that they would feel bad because others suffered is a foreign concept to them.
Exactly. Any sailor worth his salt knows this. It's why incidents like this where the Crew did nothing to help those in their charge as their ship sank are so sickening.
I rode motorcycles for years in the California Bay Area. There was a startling proportion of ex or current sailors out on two wheels. Riding tradition calls for you to stop and help, whether you're ridung, driving, or walking, fot any crashed, broken, or otherwise in need motorcycle/riders. Passing someone by would get you shunned. A lot of that tradition comes from sailors and servicemembers.
@@deezy1634 they should all be thrown in, at speed, just for the experience. I mean, for the love of God, even enemies on the high seas rescue each other after shooting at and sinking one or the other. These passengers (kids) were worth less to these bureaucrats than were mortal enemies.
Lets remember that not all of the crew were cowards. Some did give up their chance at escape to keep going back for more passengers. Jung Hyun-seon, Kim Ki-Woong, and Park Ji-young are all brave heroes who gave their young lives to help others. If only all of the crew and ‘rescuers’ had been so brave then so many more could have been saved.
@@alext3811 Stop blaming "the system". Either you are good or you're not. Greed, upholding the status quo, and looking out for #1 is the problem. If Samsung had ponied up the cash to do something immediately it would have been a huge publicity move and a good deed. But nobody stepped up. They just didn't seem to care. Fucking psychos.
They did not think of themselves. Even as those they were supposed to be able to trust abandoned the ship, and them. They stayed to save as many people as they could. They're heroes and deserve to have their memories live on.
I agree, those crew who did the right thing are heroes, if the company had done the right thing and properly trained their crew in maritime safety and evacuation, and made sure the captain and bridge crew were trustworthy and competent, maybe those few heroes wouldn't have been alone desperately trying to save who they could, and they would have been able to save a lot more.
This has been one of, If not THE best docu on this disaster that I’ve personally seen. Very well done. RiP all souls lost and my heart goes out to their loved ones.
We were at school when the report of the sinking ferry hit the news; they then said that all students were rescued. By lunchtime we found out there was no rescue. Those kids were just a year younger than me. I don’t really know why I felt the need to watch a youtube video on sewol, but I’m glad I did. Thank you for your fair and detailed report. The yellow yoochae flowers of jeju in your ending clip tells me how much thought went into your work. 꽃이 진다고 그대를 잊은 적 없다. Remember 0416 🎗️
Former President Park should still be in prison along with the cabinet members/government officials who participated in the lying bullsh1t. If they’d swallowed their pride and called on the US and other countries with navies that could properly handle the situation for emergency help, I bet many of the people who died could have been saved. Kudos to Newstapa for refusing to believe the bullsh1t and kept digging for the truth. Without them and the other independent journalists, the families would never have been able to get the information they needed.
South Korean here. Actually wanted to make some statements regarding the 2016 protests and the story behind them. To be honest, the Sewol Ferry itself didn't play much of a role sparking the protest(it was though, one of the major issues that were brought up, once the prtotest started), but the Sewol Ferry itself was a marking point for the public to question the government's ability to control something. The issue of corruption was brought up by another mind boggling scandal. The true cause of the protest has nothing to do with Sewol, and it really is a long story to write down. Even the president's impeachment had nothing to do with the sewol, since the constitutional court wasn't able to find good legal excuse to charge her for that.(There probably is a good word for that in English, but I'm not aware of those fancy legal vocabulary). Not trying to advocate her or anything. Was also furious about this. Just wanted to add some information at this amazing work you've done.
@@hammerjoe2008 It's called the 'Park GunHae - Choi Sunsil Gate', the name coming from the name of the president and her freind. Would really love to write it down here, but the scale of the scandal is quite huge. ' the president's freind acting as the president while the real president abandoning her duty' is the best effort I could make to summarize the scandal. Every Korean president has a scandal, and a lot of them were actually prisoned for that. Even the current president has a lot of scandals to be uncovered, usually regarding the North Korea aid issue and the Chinese solar power pannel scandal. It's really tiring to see nothing has changed and it even got worse through out the years as a Korean. Lol.
The word you are looking for is evidence, but you have explained the whole so well it is a minor thing . Don’t apologise for your English , it is very good .
The most striking thing about this disaster is how there really aren't any excuses for how this was allowed to happen. Those of us living in democracies with developed economies can usually reassure ourselves that a disaster caused by such gross negligence can't happen to us. We can make excuses like "that was so long ago" or "the government was Communist" or "it was a poor country with low safety standards." None of these excuses apply here. This was a recent disaster in a developed, technologically advanced democracy caused and aggravated by a shocking disregard for human life by multiple parties involved. It shows something like this could happen anywhere, to any of us, which is a terrifying thought.
South Korea was a dictatorship until 1987, and has been an extremely corrupt democracy ever since, not to mention that Park Geun-hye, president at the time was the daughter of Park Chung-hee, a general who ruled the country from his successful coup d'état in 1961 until his assassination in 1979. South Korea might be rich but it's no less corrupt than any second world pseudo democracy, especially given that all the wealth comes from the oligarchic Chaebol that contribute even further to government corruption.
It's a fundamental mistake to believe that a modern democracy necessarily has protections which are commonplace in established democracies such as the United States - or even older - the UK, France etc. It's not that the latter are free from catastrophes - often involving significant loss of life. It's just that health & safety legislature is primarily written in blood and they've been around long enough to have been through similar tragedies and enacted legislation to prevent such from happening again.
The nature of the government--saving face is everything. Nothing else matters---period. They will allow thousands to die while having lunch if the "face" can be maintained.
I'm a Korean myself, and it was gut-wrenching watching this amazing documentary. There's a little bit more political background information I want to share. Korean right-wing politicians and their supporters believed that protesting president Park about the incomprehensible response made on the day of sinking of Sewol was just an evil trick set by the left. During president Park's reign, pro-right journalists spread the news saying that the families of the victims got huge amounts of compensation. It made the victim's families look immoral, especially to the right-wing supporters. That is why the victim's father was crying and shouting out that he didn't need any money and compensation at 44:28. Today the right-wings repeatedly say "It's just a traffic accident. The leftists are exploiting the tragedy politically" which can be basically translated as "Shut up I don't want to hear your complaints you lefty communist". Even after the impeachment of president Park they didn't change that much. The recently-elected president Yoon's party is the same one with Park's. I wonder what will happen in the next five years...
Good to know right-wing politicians are just as heartless and callous in other countries as they are in America. Garbage like this should motivate people to abandon such politicians just like those politicians do to victims of extreme injustice.
This is the same story around the world. It is sad that there are so few truth seekers. Governments around world spend most of the time lying to the people.
@@Littledog0808 Sure, corruption and extremism happen on both ends of the political spectrum, but I've yet to hear a moderate leftist call for the extermination of an entire demographic.
""Shut up I don't want to hear your complaints you lefty communist". Good thing they didn't shut up nor do they have to. Others were listening. Too about the government now. :/
I can't imagine what this has been like for the survivors. I don't understand the Korean language but I understood the heartbreak in that man's voice as he talk about his lost child. The sound of heartbreak is universal.
I have never been so ashamed and yet so proud of being Korean. So ashamed at the pieces of garbage the government and ship crew were and still are. So proud of the people and parents that wanted to do what was right and fought so hard. Every one of those children didn't have to die. My heart is so broken even after all these years.
It is a national tragedy that should never be forgotten; the moment these things fade from public memory, complacency and negligence will find their way into higher chain of command again
If it makes any difference at all, I am Australian but have spent time in Korea and worked with Koreans my whole life and I find your culture to be deeply "good"... where the goodness of heart is praised and people work so, so hard (too hard?) and are proud without being bigoted. I lost my passport in Seoul airport and am glad to say I was relieved that of all the countries I've been to and lived in, it happened there. Sure, I got some dirty looks but your honesty was prized more than other countries. God bless you, Korea.
I am sad and proud for you too. And this is a tragedy beyond forgiving, and a testament for the great hearts and bravery of the Korean people who are brave and great and strong of heart.
This will happen again, just like the korean airline pilots that would rather kill passengers than disobey their elders. As a Korean-american myself, it pisses me off
If I'm not mistaken, I think I heard your voice crack a couple times, and it brought more tears to my eyes. There are some tragedies that words cannot adequately explain, and I commend you for having the guts to see this thru. It can't have been easy.
I came here to make the same comment, particularly at the end while seeing the photos of those who perished. The crack in the voice made the moment even more poignant. 😢
I have lived in South Korea since 2012 and to this day I struggle to watch anything related to this tragedy. I remember clearly being at work as the news reports started coming in and we were all in shock but relieved that the reports said everyone was rescued. Throughout the day as more information came and we found out that students were missing... it started sinking in. Many of us were crying in the teacher's office as we thought of those hundreds of students. In the following days, it was difficult. Even now watching the first few minutes of this, a knot forms in my throat. The news reports of the empty classrooms... the notes left by remaining students flooding the empty desks. This was definitely an extremely painful moment in my time here.
The USS bonHomme Richard being turned away when you realize what the vessel actually was becomes even more egregious. It wasn't exactly an Aircraft Carrier. It was a Marine Amphibious Assault ship. So a Helicopter Carrier with a small fleet of Landing Craft, both boats and Hovercraft. a full compliment of Embarked Marines including Helicopter Rescue Swimmers and SARS teams, and the ship could be converted to become a large scale floating hospital within a matter of minutes. Really the only thing a Full Fleet Carrier could do in this sort of situation was launch Helos. Which the Wasps actually carry more of. A Wasp class ship could easily and quickly evacuate 500 people off a vessel.
What a bizarre tragedy, where you have such a capable rescue turned away by the utterly incompetent. Most people would be pretty happy to see the US Navy in such a situation, regardless of your politics. Normally it's the coastguard you want to see first, but not this time.
Truth there, and note that, once the distress call was received, the Richard did not leave her station near the Sewol until receiving orders from 7th Fleet to do so. Every Sailor and Marine on board was ready and willing to do whatever it took to get every single person off of that ferry - we all know, those of us who have gone to sea, that even a calm sea plays no favorites and it is the Law of the Sea to render all possible humanitarian assistance to a vessel in distress.
@@DeborahRosen99 That is one of the things that I find the most offensive about this whole thing, even if you don't want to send your people in to help, let those who are courageous, brave and willing, save those people, I am sure that if a Marine or Sailor had died during the rescue operation for whatever reason they all would have felt it was worth the sacrifice to help those in need. For all the things people bash the US military you can never bash the men and women of any branch of being cowardly or unwilling to help those in need.
I'm sitting here in stunned disbelief. This is so heartbreaking and infuriating. Excellent job. This is incredible work and I know it was personally difficult for you. Thank you.
This made me physically sick, I can't imagine these poor families... Not only dealing with the death of their loved one, but dealing with the lies and incompetence of the government
@@NormandyFoxtrot it absolutely hit Malice levels, I mean how the USA handled New Orleans in Katrina was incompetence. This ferry was absolute deliberate malice.
@@filanfyretracker it was absolutely malice. A lot was intentional on top of incompetence and negligence. I thought Costa Concordia was bad for incompetence and cowardice of the captain (the coastguard gave him a huge roasting on air) but this takes it to a whole other level.
as a former sailor... this makes me batshit crazy... especially when i know...our Coast Guard...will sacrifice their lives to attempt a rescue. "You have to go out, but you don't have to come back." Semper Paratus, indeed.
I have heard that saying in a movie I recently watched. It was about a small coast guard station in the Us, It was called Finest hours. I have never in my life heard of a rescue person refusing to rescue someone. Im in disbelief.
That motto dates back to a regulation that basically said you can only determine a rescue is impossible or too dangerous if you try and fail. The example was that you can only decide it's too dangerous to launch boats if you attempt to launch them and are unsuccessful. ("The statement of the keeper that he did not try to use the boat because the sea or surf was too heavy will not be accepted, unless attempts to launch it were actually made and failed." It dates back to 1899, so I figured I should try and modernize the language. Taken from Wikipedia.
Mind blown. Your curation of information and skill at creating a cohesive examination of this tragedy along with the governmental corruption and its aftermath is stunning. I wept for the parents. Your series is a beautiful tribute to the love for their children and their shear tenacity to finding out the truth.
Watching this, words cannot describe how infuriating the response was to this. I was in the Navy for 11 years, and while I didn’t work in the diving community, I was well aware of what we had in terms of gear and training. The fact that the Korean government was so set on not letting anyone help, literally blows my mind as to how they could sit there and not do anything and everything they could to save as many people as they could. And to the crew members who chose to save their own lives, I hope that the guilt of letting all those children die eats away at your souls for the rest or your life.
I can't believe it took me over 7 years to discover this tragedy. I'm 25 as of writing this, I was only 17 when the Seawol sank, a junior in my High School. The same age as most of the poor souls lost on the ferry. It turns my stomach, knowing so many people died so young and makes me feel guilty I hadn't heard of this sooner. This story was either not covered by American news at all (possibly due to the botched rescue, corruption, cover-up, etc) or was covered very passively, barely headline news.
Are you sure you watched the news when you were 17? It was on my TV in headlines even for the next 11 days when this happened.. I even remember they showed the victims text messages to family on TV and reading a New York Times piece not short of a month after the tragedy.. what were you watching to the extent that you weren’t getting the news?
@@Yakumoki It was definitely on the news here in Australia. I distinctly remember seeing this story on TV when it happened, and what I was doing at the time. I was in my final year of university writing a philosophy assignment on ethics. It didn't get a lot of coverage though, simply because this was only a few weeks after MH370 went missing. There were Australians on that flight, unlike this ferry, so our media was focused on those Australian lives lost, while the entire world was looking for the plane. The Malaysian government had also withheld information, covered up facts, and misled the public and rescue teams for weeks, just like in this story, so everyone was super pissed off with Malaysia for wasting our time looking in the wrong area. I'm honestly surprised that South Korea could even find private companies to try and recover the ferry, considering the massive amount of resources that were being put into finding MH370 at the time. So basically, South Korea got away with this barely being reported in world media, because of the timing with MH370 disappearing. As well as the corrupt Malaysian government making South Korea look extremely professional and capable, in comparison to their own disastrous and dishonest recovery attempts with MH370.
Regarding the pumping of water to the opposite side of the ship as her list gets more extreme, this is something we are warned against doing at maritime school given a ship with an unstable GZ (Sewol in this case) enters a loll condition and can easily list to the side the water is being pumped to and then subsequently capsize instead of returning to upright. The ship doesn't want to stay upright or return to upright when she's in a loll condition, with some examples of this listing to both sides in a rapid see-saw motion as recorded in videos here on UA-cam. We are advised to ballast the ship to the side she is already listing to, counter-intuitively, to come out of the loll condition and instead enter the list condition which isn't so immediately dangerous and can then subsequently be corrected carefully and gradually depending on the overall situation. However things such down flooding (water flooding down into the ship once she lists some bit past the angle of main deck edge immersion) will make it a capsize situation. This would also be the same if shell doors such as the large side loading doors on a Ro-Ro ferry like Sewol were not watertight. The Free Surface Effect (FSE) would also factor into all this more prominently on a Ro-Ro ship with large open plan decks, where only CMs of water can make the RoRo ship enter a loll condition (dangerously unstable and beyond the not ideal list condition). The solutions to this are not sailing with an unstable ship in the first place be it due to improper cargo stowage or the unstable nature of her construction/modifications. The various load line and stability laws/regulations, started by Plimsoll (hence the Plimsoll Line) are meant to be adhered to and a lot goes into adhering to them with things such as the different methods for securing cargo, and Sewol's owners not doing so is more than negligent and more than manslaughter in my opinion. They would've known how criminally in the wrong they were but they didn't care and had no conscience. As a sailor, I would not have been happy working on the Sewol given the levels of SNAFU which goes beyond the normal levels in the merchant shipping world. A horrible waste of lives that hadn't really started yet. RIP.
This was the most frustrating thing I've listened to for a while, so I can't even BEGIN to imagine the depths of frustration and pain those family members went through having to deal with all of that. Good job on this video; it's a difficult topic to discuss but damn if you didn't knock it out the park.
I'm just speechless. The only thing I was saying throughout was why "why", just "why". This just shouldn't happen, too many things happened that just shouldn't have. Phenomenal work on this, my heart goes out to every single person affected by this horrible incident.
Yes ! That is what I was mumbling throughout. WHY? I know about saving face in that culture but the captain fleeing, nobody telling about all those children inside, the children themselves staying put beyond what one would expect reasonable. WHY ?
@@sachadee.6104 For the captain, he was just a coward or an idiot. As for the rest of the response, it was heavily seeped in culture. Not all of it, but it probably was responsible for a lot.
I can’t imagine the pain the parent must’ve been in. They told their kids to trust the system and stay put; then when their kids died, that same system lied repeatedly and constantly led them on with false promises. The level of incompetence throughout all the agencies was shocking and infuriating to me. I hope the families and friends of those impacted are staying strong and recovering 💔
Your voice cracking at the very end got me. I can’t imagine just how much effort it took to compile the information on this tragic event, as well as the emotional toll on your heart when telling the story and editing the video. Mad respect to you for sharing these incredible stories on your channel. This one is the most horrifying and absolutely heartbreaking to me. What those poor people abandoned on that ship had to have been feeling towards their end, and the families and friends of those lost…just devastating.
This is heart breaking. I can imagine as a parent receiving texts from my daughter saying she is still trapped on the vessel and realising that none of the officials were listening.
I have NEVER seen a tragedy caused by human error where everything that could’ve gone wrong actually did from beginning to end, let alone in 2014! From having an illegal ship operated by inept crew to not even have the decency to hire the sufficient amount of people to identify victims and notify families. Those poor poor people didn’t stand a chance, everyone failed them🎗
The thing is, a lot of it was NOT error. It was intentional. The government refused help and refused to be honest simply to “save face”. These people weren’t victims of human error. They all could have been saved pretty easily. They’re victims of intentional neglect for prides sake. Disgusting.
@@Spooky_Platypus it makes me wonder if that is all there is to the story. Them wanting to stall raising the ship is something that is very strange to say the least, almost as if they were hiding something else on board.
Jeez, , hearing your voice crack at the end had me choking and holding back tears myself. Such a despicable lack of empathy and humanity on the part of a lot of the government. May the souls lost rest in peace.
Thank you for making this and making it with appropriate reverence for those who went down with the ship, completely failed by so many gutless and incompetent people.
I've watched this story several times and have been trying to think of a comment. The best I can say is that I salute you Brick Immorter for your coverage. The last thing I can say is may peace find the souls lost and those left behind. To any South Koreans who read this. Know a little man in the hills a world away weeps with you.
I feel that, had the ROK Government immediately ceded the rescue effort to the vastly more experienced US Navy, their Japanese partners and other experienced divers under control of the USN, I'm absolutely positive that more people could've been rescued.
This was so well told. I've seen lots of videos about the Sewol tragedy but they tend to gloss over a lot of the politics of it. Never realised how badly those grieving people were failed before this one.
The MV Sewol's senior officers are up there with those of the Costa Concordia. The South Korean coast guard fell far short in getting their act together.
Yeah, I was thinking the actual sinking of, and the actions of the crew of the Sewol and Concordia were equally outrageous. But the Concordia, with it's low number of deaths and the excellent response of the Italian Coast Guard, is more meme than tragedy in the minds of the public (which I realize is little comfort to the people who did die, and their families). But the Sewol is so ridiculous in the corruption, incompetence and lies from everyone involved, it's almost hard to believe it's real, especially in a wealthy country like South Korea.
Schettino eventually ordered abandon ship. The Sewol's captain never did. There's also a cultural difference. Passengers on the Concordia took it upon themselves to get to muster stations while those students followed what they were told.
As a survivor of hurricane Katrina, I am getting flashbacks from the insanity of all agencies involved. I remembered when this happened but I never knew the whole story. It reminds me of the survivors that made it through the Katrina but died afterwards from heat, dehydration, illness and various other things. How we waited 3 days for water with a heat index of 110f. People died waiting while these agencies pointed a finger at each other. The Mexican military were the first to help my area. They didnt wait for orders... they just got to work. The us coast guard did the best they could but it was such a wide spread flooding that many had to wait for water and food. Thinking about the incompetence of the aftermath of Katrina makes it hard to watch this. Also my former coworker that lost his daughter on this ship. He talked about her a lot but hardly about her passing. We both lost a child so I think he felt more comfortable telling me about her. She was a gifted athlete and singer. She liked to bake different cookies. She had bad temper but didnt stay mad long.. especially with her younger brothers. She wanted to be doctor and had started taking anatomy classes. She taught her brothers how to write and made their school lunches. Those are the things I remember. He said that being made to believe she was alive was especially hard for the family. He said when he heard that, he boasted out loud something like "i knew she'd make it! I taught her to swim from a young age". 😢 His family moved to Japan and he got a job teaching english in Nagoya. Thats where i met him. I haven't heard from him since 2021. After watching part 1 I sent him an email. I pray they are okay.
Yes, the first thing I thought was Katrina. Katrina was so bad because on a couple of occasions the media talked to survivors on day 2 that needed help and day 4 when the media came back the people had died. The situation in S. Korea was very similar. The boat is sitting there and everyone can see plenty of windows so they knew people were alive and did NOTHING. It's a disgrace.
44:37 that broke me seeing a grown man on his knees begging for answers just makes me sick how these officials did nothing but stall and argue with one another
Not only did the government allow the deaths of so many , they also endangered recovery divers , a gruelling, gruesome task . This is a brilliant, informative and compassionate video, one of the best in my opinion .
I really appreciate your coverage of this event. I love when creators dare to make longer form content for this platform, I enjoy the more in-depth analysis and that you take the time necessary to explain more complex concepts and ideas. I sent you a fiver on Paypal this month and I will make sure to drop another one soon. I love quality content on niche topics and I will gladly express my support in form of a small financial contribution and by sharing your channel with my friends.
i'm a foreigner, but i live in korea, i live near the port where the sewol ferry sails, watching the bodies of students being brought up is heartbreaking news
Marine lifeguards were brought in, but they weren't as flexible as the fishing boats nearby? Other lifeguards in the US wanted to help but were turned down? This is a secret, a secret that will never be solved
This was an excellent in depth report on not just the tragedy of the Sewol ferry incident and the associated loss of life, but a thorough investigation of the corruption and ineptitude of the Korean government and their handling of this disaster. Combined with part one of this video, this is an award-worthy video exposé. One of the best I've ever watched.
This is sickening and infuriating. The levels of incompetence, corruption and heartlessness in this "avoidable" accident is truly astounding. Thank god for the parents and the few in the media who wouldn't let this go and pursued the truth until it could no longer be concealed. Those still alive that had a hand in this tragedy should be haunted and tormented for the rest of their miserable lives. To Brick Immortar - your content is outstanding. Hands down as good if not better than documentaries seen on mainstream network TV or streaming channels.
There's no way that a government can be this thoroughly incompetent. After a while, this starts to feel _intentional._ That ridiculous debacle with parking a barge right above the only decent dive site, getting deliberately handsy and waffley with equipment and forms and procedures and who the bloody hell knows what else just to kill as much time as possible.... There's no way anyone is _that_ unintentionally incompetent. This takes effort.
One major issue is that the boots on the ground were more scared of those above them those they were supposed to serve. The leadership just wasn't in the real world, only caring about money.
Corrupt governments are like this, you see, rather then that money going to pay for skilled staff, the money disappears and very little value is paid for with it. Then disaster strikes and the government is completely powerless, because it's been devoted to self preservation of this corruption. And the worst thing is, nothing has changed. Over and over corruption in South Korea happens over and over again. Corruption is a cancer, and it's up to every individual to cut it out where ever it shows up. In your homes, at work, in school. You need to work hard to get rid of it.
South Korea on the surface looks as stable and developed as Japan... but it's mostly a facade, and behind it the government and bureaucracy are a lot more like North Korea than they want to admit...
Having watched a few documentaries on this before, I have to say: this is the only one that fully captures the depths and societal context of the negligence that let's things like this happen. Thank you for putting your own expertise in to make this, and for aggregating some of the excellent work Korean journalists have done on this. It's an important story, and nothing else I've watched has done it justice like this.
The loss of life is obviously the most importan thing, but out of all this the thing that pisses me off the most is Park's pardon. It's like "whoops, we almost let a powerful person face the consequences of their actions." There was literally no reason for her pardon except for "presidents aren't supposed to go to prison."
The actions and reactions from the S. Korean government involving everything with the Sewol tragedy, from the botched "rescue" to going so far out of their way to lie about what happened afterwards, are something I've never been able to logically wrap my brain around. Like they put in so much work trying to lie their way around it when it would have not only been less work for them and more efficient to turn it over to the private sectors who already knew what to do when it came to floating or recovering the ship, but they also completely ruined any credibility with the public that they could've possibly had. And if the argument against accepting the help was that they didn't wanna look incompetent if they had to rely on outside help to get the job done, wouldn't being seen as honest about their shortcomings and doing everything that needed to be done to save people been better than the mess that did end up happening?? And how on EARTH did the government officials think such easily disproved lies about the rescue of the children would work??? Like HOW?? How can you be so disconnected from reality?? I'm sorry about the stream of thought comment but it's been years since the Sewol went down and I still can't wrap my mind around the dumbass decisions these grown-ass adults made that even a toddler would think were stupid.
Yes, the whole event is hard to catch and drives a " normal " dude mad .... So f...... up in everything there, it's unimaginable! Cowards is pretty euphemism - so sad ....
Back in the day the government could easily control the narrative and make people believe what they wanted them to believe. Nowadays that is significantly harder, and impossible to do fully.
My deepest gratitude to your team for finishing this story in such a professional, reverent manner. I hope you all can take a break as recovery from the personal trauma of assembling this had to be substantial. May Sewol’s victims, heroes, and their families find peace. ❤️
Outstanding presentation of this horrendous event. So many children lost, so much pain that lives on, and some serious failures to serve justice. Just a heartbreaking story.
Such a tragedy and clusterf*** on so many level. The mind boggles. Some stellar investigative work from BI, resulting in a comprehensive documentary, keeping it respectful throughout.
What really bothers me is that they saw this ship listing to such an extreme degree, parked right next to it, knew there were people on board, and did nothing. It’s unforgivable. I just wish peace and healing to everyone who lives on with the grief and pain from this tragedy. I’m not sure how, but I hope it finds them.
It’s hard to express one’s feelings to such gross negligence and such a huge loss of life, but somehow, you managed to do it, and did it very well. Thank you for these videos. They are so important and show people stories that otherwise would not see the light of day again.
Today is the 10th anniversary of the Sewol Ferry Memorial in Korean time. The Sewol ferry captain caused great damage to students and passengers by making them wait on the ship. I will continue to remember the Sewol Ferry until the day I die.
The ferry can be viewed on Google Earth/Maps in the SW part of the greater Mokpo harbor area and found by searching for "Sewol Ferry Mokpo New Port Mount Place". My heart felt condolences to all the victims families.
The amount and degree of corruption and sheer negligence by those culpable for this tragedy are unfathomable. Thank you for your incredible videos. Prayers for those who were affected.
I really like the horn blasts we hear at the beginning of the tribute section in this video. It's almost like Honor and Remembrance is being bestowed upon those who perished in the sinking. May a tragic and ill-mannered event like this never happen again.
It is. It's called a Master Salute and is used to recognize and honor special circumstances. It kills me when I hear it used for the Edmund Fitzgerald.😪
43:55 This is the point where I genuinely started to cry. Beforehand, I felt nothing but loathing at all of the people who outright failed to do their jobs. But that poor father, who prefaced that all he wanted was to die just to see his child again... I don't know a single word of Korean but I understood the pain in his voice. Thank you for making this documentary.
I didn't know this history. I am crying here. My heart is broken. How monstrous to leave kids to die when you could have saved them. May the Lord comfort the families. Lord, I scream for Your Justice.
Makes me want to weep! I cannot imagine how it must feel to lose a loved one in those circumstances, let alone your child! Hard to watch but very well put together. Well done, Sir!
This deserves an award for outstanding journalism along with world wide viewing! Well done, and THANK-YOU for such an outstanding effort! It was such an unimaginable, unnecessary tragedy and the world must NEVER forget.
Those poor divers, what they must have seen. So the families of the perished not only lost their loved ones but also lost their faith in Government leaders. What a horrific event Thank you for covering this Keep well
Здравствуйте. Я участвовал в подеме Севола .судно Белый Марлин.Мы доставили Севол после подема в порт .Было очень тяжело эмоционально при швартовке к причалу .родственники погибших стояли на коленях и плакали .Нам было тяжело но людям потерявших своих близких в тысячя раз тяжелей .Корея! Я помню о твоём горе .Мы сделали самую малость .вернули Севол в порт но не вернули жизни .
@@Megumi646 Actually, there's hate. Hate that this situation happens while they're still in office. Hate that this ships just have to sink during their early years of their administration, which is an important time to garner affection from the public for their next election. Hate that it is THEIR responsibility to rescue them and that they have to potentially spend their money and risking their reputation to try to save them. And hate that Sewol did not sunk earlier then it did, they could've says that they have no time to save them and recieve less criticism as a result.
Those poor kids - and the teachers who told them to stay put even though something was clearly wrong! Utterly tragic. How terribly the Korean government have handled this too - awful. Thanks for the video. Was looking for part 2 when I saw the other 'part 1' was done. Maybe an idea to say in the description part 2 coming soon, when/if it is?
It was an automated message on the speaker system who told everybody to stay put. The teachers did their best to protect their students and some died with them. How should they know better than the crew (whose fault it was)?
@@bobzeepl yes and no, in the days of steam, the men who stayed put at their posts aboard The Titanic in the engineering spaces kept the ship afloat far longer than anyone expected. By maintaining steam pressure in a few boilers, provided the power to keep the lights on and the pumps running, slowing the rate of sinking and allowing more the chance to abandon ship. Even with the haphazard half empty deployment of the lifeboats. And of course no in that many who stayed at their posts would go down with the ship. In regards to the passengers aboard ship, ofcourse no, staying put is signing your own death sentence regardless of the times, past present and future.
The amount of disasters where people are told to stay put but end up dying - this, Grenfell, twin towers - I've come to the conclusion that if I'm ever caught up I'm something, I'll take my chances, follow my own senses and the situation as it unfolds, act accordingly and ignore any stay put orders. If I can get out under my own steam or with others then I'll take it, stay put orders be damned.
Nothing Will ever be more haunting to me then the image of the Sewol being carried On the Dockwise White Marlin, seemingly being escorted by multiple ships to it's final resting place. Excellent work on this video.
Thank you Brick Immortar. This is the most thorough Investigative documentary I have seen to date on this dreadful tragedy. Since the day I learned of this event It has never left my mind. Rip to all those lost that day, I hope their families can eventually find peace.
What shocks me about this tale to no end is that the captain could’ve screamed “ABANDON SHIP”, flail his arms in the air, and immediately hop overboard… And that would’ve been *better* at saving lives than what he actually did.
he actually did call for abandon ship. it was with his crew and they just decided to leave after telling the students to stay in their rooms
@@kane3383 could they of thought all the students leaving would make it worse for them to get off idk just a thought
@@businessbuilder92 ROK misinformation agent spotted
@@businessbuilder92 selfish negligence and absolutely no sense of leadership thats what it is
@businessbuilder92 They did mention that they were afraid the passengers moving about the ship would worsen the list and hence why they kept telling them to remain in their quarters. It's disgusting and abhorrent. At the point when saving the ship was no longer an option, they should've ordered to abandon the ship. Heck, even before that point.
This is a shining example of what an investigative documentary should entail: straightforward facts, pictures, raw footage & diagrams all in a play-by-play of the incident.
Like an honest NTSB report.
Run by Joe Friday
"Just the facts please."
yes, no inappropriate jokes, side stories, or self serving promotions
Most importantly...not a single "like, subscribe and share" comment. Class, pure class
Also the political and economic reasons such disasters happen much too often.
@@TracyA123 those appeals work tho. The video has only 3k likes for 60k views at this time if writting, meaning less people watch it. It wasn't the algorithm that brought me here for example, but a thread on reddit and I only liked because you reminded me to.
This story is so famous in Korean, I visited in 2019 and still so many people had the yellow bow pins and attached to their mobile phones. You have honoured all the victims by making sure their story is told, especially in English. This tragedy and the government cover up/failures needs to be known and your efforts in making these two videos goes a long way towards doing that. 삼가 고인의 명복을 빕니다 to all who lost their lives.
I've been a teacher here for 14 years, and been in the same high school now for 7 years and I can tell you it's still a big thing on April 16th. Students from almost all high schools have events of remembrance and they're broadcast on national TV channels. I hope that Korea learns from this and we don't have the government cover up and failures that we saw on the day and after. A few years ago, the parents of a student tragically lost in the Sewol sinking came to my school to talk to the students. There were no dry eyes after. Action has to follow emotions.
What makes me so sad is they had one of the most capable and professional navy's on the planet right there ready and willing to respond with its full weight and they said no.
As an American we just take for granted the professionalism of the US Coast Guard (and navy in this case) and we just "know" that when we call for a rescue that the very best people in the field are going to do their very best to rescue us. The abject corruption that was rotting the ROK coast guard as recently as 8 years ago just blows my mind. And it makes me want to take a moment to say thanks to those US (and other national) coast guard units that *do* take their job seriously and are willing to risk life and limb to save people they have never met.
Im reminded of the stark differences seen between this and the flooded cave rescue in Thailand. How after a few days of failed attempts they (the government) fairly quickly roped in highly skilled cave divers and let them run the show. They knew what the priority was, the lives of those trapped in the cave. There is no "loss of face" in realizing your out of your depth and bringing in subject matter experts to fill out those gaps in skill and knowledge. In fact I consider it testament to their skill as leaders to do so and be willing to do so.
To the Korean public, don't let them forget. Mistakes and accidents happen, how you respond to them though says everything about you and your administration.
Henry, you said the South Korean Navy was disgraceful because it said "no." You forget that their armed forces...all branches, are headed by a civilian, and that civilian is subordinate to the Commander in Chief of the armed forces. Their command structure is modeled after ours, and all the armed forces are commanded by civilians. So if the civilian leaders said no, the admirals salute, and carry out their orders. That is not "disgraceful," that is the Constitution working as it should. You may not agree with it, but that is Constitutional government. John, Master Chief, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
Visited the memorial tent in Ansan soon after and saw all their photos, the worst feeling ever, I could not breathe.
@@john1653 completely agree but I bet those guys out there on the ship wanted to help and Korea stopping them? It must have felt bad
Can you imagine how hair tearingly frustrated the soldiers on that amphib carrier must have felt? They crewed a ship DESIGNED for emergencies like this and have training for situations like this...and due to diplomatic protocols got to watch several hundred kids suffocate and/or drown from about 300 yards away...
No yeah and the fact the American volunteer divers when they went to survey the wreck to plan how they would recover the body's and the fucking Korean agents that went with them just came along to get in the way and fuck with the divers equipment tells me that the only reason those Korean guys went with was probably to just brake the divers equipment to make it look like the US divers were not experienced just so the Korean government could get an excuse to drop the US divers from the rescue so they could in turn make it look like US divers were the one just getting in the way so the korean officials could try to still salvage their already dumpsterfire of a reputation while inturn trying to shame the US government.......anyone else notice how this seems to always happen with the US almost every time we offer any country that has a government with a stick up their own ass any sort of help! Maybe we should just stop offering those particulars countrys help and just wait for them to ask us for help instead just to prove a point to them. I'm just saying it might help dislodge those sticks up there~
With other ships as well. LHDs like the Bonnie Dick don't travel alone, they almost always form the center of an expeditionary strike group with other ships like guided-missile destroyers and other landing ships.
Not to score diplomatic points or glory but a humanity thing to save lives....as ex army my duty was to help people irregardless.
A lad from a LHD near by said his account of this.
The commander of that ship was a an idiot.
One of the worst parts is that both the US Navy and the Japanese Cost Guard were ready to go on day one but were told by ROK navy that they were not needed. If both the US and Japan could have gotten in the story would have been one of how strong the bonds were between the three countries and how many lives were saved... it just boggles me why no one asked for help, why they didn't want to get in there to save people. I really don't understand it.
Plus both navies were very experienced and knew what to do in this situation.
Everyone wanted to show how competent and independent they were, instead of saving lives.
@@person_perhaps Honestly though, ego has cost so many lives throughout history it’s absolutely mind-boggling.
The government had nothing to gain and everything to lose, and they still decided to do nothing. Even thinking about it in the most selfish way I can, I still can't come up with a reason not to attempt a proper rescue.
Ego? Pride? Weakening a negotiating position maybe ?
Who knows
Some years ago here in Canada we had vast forest fires on the border with the USA
Canada is an enormous wilderness nation with firefighting resources stretched thin
Fires were consuming a community on the border with America and the American government offered help
The Canadian government declined… and many people lost everything
Seems natural to humble yourself and accept assistance from a friendly neighbor who’s better equipped to deal with the problem you’re facing
But our governments don’t care about us… they don’t serve us
We are peasantry to them
May Mr. Kim, the one who went to find the kids and bring them home, may his soul be quieted and resting in Eternal Peace. PTSD is so brutal. He is a martyr, a hero.
Yes he is a giant compared to those that stood idly by and twiddled their thumbs
he was murdered most likely
😭😭😭
He is a hero for sure.
Definitely. I'd be curious to know if he was given access to counseling or other mental health services, or if that's even a thing that exists in South Korea for conditions such as PTSD. The man in the meeting towards the end of the video mentioned something along those lines (presumably offered to victims' families?). If not, and he killed himself, it's another element of the administration's willful incompetence and cruelty. I can only imagine the horrors he relived whenever he was alone and it breaks my heart for him.
I can’t even begin to imagine how the parents felt. Being told your child/children are safe only to find out they hadn't even been looked for and were still on the ferry, which was now completely under the water.
Such a heartbreaking thing to happen.
Heartbreak is more for accidents and disasters. This was directly the fault of other people so what they should be feeling is rage.
Don't worry, your kid's fine. Just kidding, he's dead.
I saw an interview where one parent got a call and told their kid to just do as instructed and stay in place until help arrived. I can't imagine the heartbreak.
How could the captain and crew be so cowardly?
This is really hard and sad to hear. I was on the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) who was near by when this happened. We were ready and able to help. Attached to VMM 265 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft, the narrative giving to us was that everything was under control and we were not needed. It pains my heart that this was not the case at all. That we could have helped and more importantly saved the life’s of many people that did not need to die on that day.
Thank you for making this documentary, and bringing clarity to this event.
RIP to the souls lost that day.
If only the officials had some grace and humility, the Bonhomme could have saved hundreds. Absolutely disgraceful actions of behalf of the South Korean government
May you find peace and know that you and your comrades did the right thing with the information provided.
As a first responder my heart broke I know full well the pure gut wrenching anguish felt when your told to do nothing, your mind is screaming No, we have to help, we can't sit here and do nothing...suits in Gov don't get it the World over there the same business like and cold hearted...Sadly there was nothing anyone could do, fate played her hand held by the incompetence of hundreds of people on that day and in the days to follow...hopefully some good comes from this tragic event and lessons are learnt so another Ferry disaster doesn't occur in Korea
There was a similar issue with a major air crash in Japan: The US was offering to go and check the crash site, but the officials didn't want to ask for help. The survivors made it very clear that many passengers survived the crash - and went silent in the night. This 'honour' bullshit should be seen for what it is - cowardice in the face of adversity, a failure to lead and taking responsibility for the situation.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Air_Lines_Flight_123
Just shows that you can't trust anyone on the high seas and should get closer and involved (within the limits of your own ship's safety) regardless what anyone else says.
The Japanese also apparently offered help..and was rejected.
Edd Sorenson who is a world renowned cave diving rescuer offered to help. The US navy had him on stand by. He is known for his many live and body rescues from underwater caves. Many say he is the best in the world. He fuels and flies his own plane and refuses any payment. He is the definition of a Hero. Also he was on stand-by for the Thailand class stuck in the cave. And eventually had to rescue one of British divers who rescued those kids.
Philtec which are a group of rescue divers from the Philippines offeres assistance. It makes me cry thinking how those children might have thought no one cared enough. I wish we could tell that so many people around the world would have sacrificed themselves to save them.
this is so true wherever they are i hope they’re at peace
Edd Sorenson is a personal hero of mine as an aspiring cave diver and tech diver. He not only does the things he does, but he does not seek publicity. If you listen to him talk about some of the rescues he’s done, he’s so chill and calm, like he’s talking about breakfast.
Edd is one of my favorite people (only learned about him through various videos last year). I’ve always been terrified of cave diving but I’ve definitely been in unauthorized/unmarked dry caves in the Appalachian range before and if one of those suckers filled up with water while I was inside- I’d want him on site. In fact, just tell me he’s there even if he isn’t and that will at least keep me from despairing in the darkness.
This was not just incompetence. This was not just cowardice. This was not just selfishness. This was not just corruption.
This was apathy. This was abhorrent. This was cruel. This was inhumane.
None of the victims or their families deserved any of this.
Imagine how bad we treat animals, when we treat each other this way
damn right
This was failure to lead, and failure to act. This was a failure of culture: and that failure is the worst thing a man can do to himself. A man does better than this. A woman does better than this. It is sad and disgusting and an insult to our shared humanity.
The vile actions of so many people involved in every part of this disaster are nothing short of evil. They come off like a bunch of sociopaths and I don’t know how they can live with themselves.
@@ihanakaunotar2741 hundreds of people died horrible deaths and you’re comparing what they went through to animals..? i really hope none of the loved ones of the victims see your tactless comment. read the fucking room.
This 'homemade' documentary is so much more detailed and nuanced than anything professional I've seen so far. Excellent work. No sensationalism, no fancy CGI, just a detailed rundown. Thank you.
Exactly
"Homemade" no this is professional in my opinion. Extremely well made 2 part docuseries.
everything this channel produces is so well made and in good taste, idk how he does it
That is why I trust civilian videos, news and Wikipedia more than any "professional" news.
I agree, I like how much straightforward this video was. No dramatic music, just a regular documentary listing the facts.
For many years, I lived in Korea and worked as a university professor there. The Sewol disaster didn't surprise me, or any of my Korean friends. There is a culture of gaming the system, bribes to look the other way and a very strong Old Boys Network. In any such disaster, the first instinct of the those in authority is, "How can I can I offload responsibility?" Losing face is an enormous social ill in Korea. In this case, it was more important than the lives of children. Korea is the most Confucian culture in the world and the good kids did what they were told. The ones who disobeyed their "seniors" (sum-bae) lived.
After the Sampoong department store collapse. it is the same old story….corruption, disaster, outrage and then changes. And after a sufficient amount of time have passed, things started reverting back and then we get hit by another disaster.
How are they saving face though? They already lost it. In my opinion, the only way to earn back respect is to admit your faults and do the best you can to repair the situation. But I guess that's why I'm not a politician, I have morals.
Thank you. That is very illuminating. CYA at its worst.
How ironic. The behavior that mindset promotes does anything but "save face" to the eyes of the observer. Hard to believe the Korean people would be so naive and lacking of self-awareness to think that irresponsibility and immature mendacity would be positive cultural traits.
Sounds just like what happens here in the US.
At 44:50 the man begging the round table of government officials for wanting to know the truth of his son before his death - followed by pleading for the good future of his country struck me almost as hard as any other issue outline in this documentary. I wish with all my heart that man found peace.
I felt tears rolling down my cheeks watching him go down on his hands and knees, sobbing and begging. The cultural context and implications of doing this especially when pride, face, shame and family name are heavily empphasized, I cannot even begin to explain to you. All I can say is, it hurts so fucking hard. It really really hurts.
He didnt want any compensation. Just the truth. God I felt for him.
I spent 30 years in the US Coast Guard the majority doing Search and Rescue. If I was driving the small boats approaching the ferry I would have told the on scene commander that my crew is going aboard to check for survivors not asked for permission. Thankfully that is how the USCG trains their crews. Trained to take action. God bless the victims.
I'm not in the coast guard but me being an American in the ship I would have gotten everyone I could up for rescue after the ship listed past 50° in my mind I would think someone has to do something in the ship. This is a very sad tragedy on Korean chain of command and government.
the question is if they even took air bottles with them? they probably needed permission to bring them.
A single USCG inflatable crew could have done more than the entire Korean government, change my mind.
@@commonsense-og1gz You mean air tanks? They’d actually need permission to have air tanks? They wouldn’t just have them prepared with them?!
"You have to go out, but you don't have to come back!"
“We weren’t all rescued. I think we escaped by ourselves. [. . .] They said they were going to rescue us, and we thought they would really do so. Since they were bringing helicopters and the coast guard, we thought it wouldn’t be a big deal. But now we can‘t be with our beloved friends, and we can’t ever see them again no matter how much we miss them for the rest of our lives. What was it that we did wrong? If there was something that we did wrong, I think it was getting off the Sewol ferry alive.” [...] “We have remained silent even though we were the victims because we lacked the courage because we were afraid of being criticized as in the past. But now we intend to take courage, too. Someday, when we meet our friends once again, we hope to be able to proudly tell them that we made sure that the people who separated us from our friends were held responsible, that we made those people pay the price.”
Remarks by students who survived the sinking of the Sewol ferry at a candlelight rally held on Jan. 7, 2017
This is the same generation that was once again failed by their government during last year's Halloween crush at a popular nightlife district in Seoul, South Korea. The majority of those victims were in their 20s. The same age as those lost on the Sewol if they had survived.
45:58 the intensity and significance of that protest sent chills down my spine. Absolutely insane how effectively those citizens mobilized...
The quick action of the government in ejecting the corrupt regime was probably the only reason the country didn't descend into civil war.
If the US people could do the same the nation would be so much better for it
@@oniinu As terrible as our government is, they've never messed up this bad- if they ever do, I think we'd finally get on the same page.
@@oniinuthey did and have.. the march on washington? the 2020 police violence protests? march for our lives?
@@saintnicole3209not even remotely the same
this is somehow just a continuous string of "not only did they not do what they should have done, but they did everything they could to harm the rescue effort"
I never knew just how bad this was. This was beyond negligence, it was cruel. The crew that stayed on board were heroes.
This is the first one of your documentaries to make me cry. And I could hear it in your voice on that last line. Thank you for making these videos, and giving us the truth with respect to those affected by it. Those kids will not be forgotten.
I seen the recovery videos of this and couldn't finish it. I was in tears.
Yeah, me neither. I was like an off-and-on K-POP fan. In my ignorance, I was very confused about what the big deal was back then. I only heard the initial report that stated everyone was rescued. I couldn't understand why news about Sewol Ferry kept coming up every now and again and was too ignorant to have the desire to learn.
This tragedy made me think of the Costa Concordia sinking in Italy: a coward captain and some crew members left leaving passengers and rest of the crew in a desperate situation. At least the Coast guard took control of the thing coordinating the rescue operation and saving 4197 people... 32 died and it's still an unacceptable tragedy. In the Sewol disaster even the coast guard refused to act waiting for someone else to do their job. The government proudly refused help offered by US and Japan. These poor kids died because captain, crew and coast guards failed them. The worse is they could have saved all of the 304 kids. They were in the golden hours reachable and not too many to save.
The then Korean government trying to cover up his incompetence is really a no comment matter. Eternal thanks to the divers.
Thankfully the Concordia sank close to shore in relatively shallow waters - else the death toll would have been far greater
At least there the coast guard was competent and was telling the captain he's a POS. Funny thing is his last name Schettino pronounced Skattino is close to a term in russian for livestock (скотина)...which is used as a derogatory term for people that are POS. So as a Russian speaker his last name was very fitting.
At least the Italian Coast guard seemed to have acted quickly and professionally. There is the famous phone call of a Coast GuardCaptain yelling at the cowardly Concordia Captain in the life boat to get back on board and do various rescue tasks…which he did not do.
This Korean rescue effort was awful start to finish.
You can't even compare the two situations. The Sewol disaster highlighted and exposed major flaws that span the entirety of South Korean government and society itself and have seen zero improvement since then.
As a retired emergency services director, it's painfully obvious this incident was an epic cluster f*ck on so many levels. I'm deeply saddened by those who died and my heart goes out to all the families who lost loved ones. Thank you for posting and be safe 🙏
The opening scene of the ferry finally returning must be one of the most heart-rending visuals I have ever seen on youtube
I felt the same way. Heartbreaking is the only word that comes close to describing it.
And it got worse. When it was pulled up to the Mohkpo docks, none of the families were allowed anywhere near it - not even to see it. They were barred, locked out by security fences and surrounded by riot police. The pleading got so bad one of the police guarding the dock also burst into tears. But none of them got in.
@@ArchTeryx00 To be fair, it is not a surprise; the ship has basically become a biohazard scene and thus they can't let other people near it.
@@Suisfonia The real problem wasn't the biohazards; the real problem was that a) it was a wreck and thus inherently dangerous, and b) it also was a giant crime scene and they wanted nothing disturbed or contaminated as they started removing evidence, i.e., they didn't want the parents pawing through the cell phones and other artifacts they took off the ship in search of a burial memento. But the optics were still HORRIBLE. These parents had fought one of the most corrupt governments in Korean history; to deny them their due at the port just was insult added to grievous injury.
I would get the standing a the port or as close as they can get to the ferry to watch it. But to be able to step into it would be way to dangerous. It is a crime scene, it is a biohazard and they did end up finding the remains of one of the missing students in there as well. Most of the phones and any personal belongings were already brought up when search and rescue was going on after the accident. If there were any phones they would have already been brought up given that there are videos from students before the ferry actually sunk.
@@ArchTeryx00
I hope this gets translated and viewed, not only in South Korean, but globally. It's not just about this tragedy, but how people working together can topple a corrupt government. Something that needs to be done in many other countries.
Thank you for this series.
@yamal he never said he could speak more than one language
@@tc1225 also sadly, UA-cam used to have “community contributed captions”, but they removed them some time ago, I suppose when they introduced the computer-generated captions (which I admit are astonishingly good even under the most difficult circumstances where I can’t even decipher the English audio myself due to strong accent or poor audio quality).
I got no issue doing it for spanish for both p1 & p2. I know i can pull the transcripts and the time stamps for both. @brick immortar would have to be the one to upload it though.
Not to divert the topic but, the Philippines also had this "people working together can topple a government" during the EDSA revolution in the mid 1980s. Unfortunately the family that were rejected that time is now currently our president. I hope that the Sewol Incident will make a lesson for the koreans to never again elect these officials and may the story not be twisted someday , in their favor, by fake news
Good bless all those family’s that lost loved ones may they find a little piece one day rip to that diver that took his life because of what he saw 🙏🙏
You really outdid yourself on this one. The amount of work you put into this really shows so hats off to you. It can be difficult to objectively cover the technical details while respecting the human cost.
At first, I wondered if breaking this story into two parts meant that it would be filled with lots of filler material. However, I discovered that every bit of information was necessary to paint the whole picture. The documentary was well done, organized, and riveting. Nice job.
This whole story is unfathomably sad, but the thing that always baffles me is how the captain can live with himself - as a man, as an adult, as a human being - after running off and leaving those kids like a 🙀? The guilt and shame would probably kill me if I did something like that.
Agreed
Conscience is a tragic thing, punishing those with a good one while the ones rotten to the core are left free.
Probably a huge amount of lying to himself, making it somehow not his fault. "I was just in a bad situation. Everyone expected too much from me. Everyone was incompetent too. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Stuff like that.
That, or a he's a literal psychopath.
He would not kill himself AT ALL. He only thought about his own safety during the crisis. He was not a caption but a extreme selfish monster. He was a killer, a cold blooded killer.
Can’t say for the Captain, but some people lack a sense of empath: the idea that they would feel bad because others suffered is a foreign concept to them.
As an ex-sailor, this is appalling. We all have one enemy, the sea. Sailors help those on the sea, all stop.
Sickening.
Exactly. Any sailor worth his salt knows this. It's why incidents like this where the Crew did nothing to help those in their charge as their ship sank are so sickening.
MrAWG9,,,,indeed thank you
I rode motorcycles for years in the California Bay Area. There was a startling proportion of ex or current sailors out on two wheels.
Riding tradition calls for you to stop and help, whether you're ridung, driving, or walking, fot any crashed, broken, or otherwise in need motorcycle/riders. Passing someone by would get you shunned. A lot of that tradition comes from sailors and servicemembers.
The sea and politicians
@@deezy1634 they should all be thrown in, at speed, just for the experience.
I mean, for the love of God, even enemies on the high seas rescue each other after shooting at and sinking one or the other. These passengers (kids) were worth less to these bureaucrats than were mortal enemies.
Lets remember that not all of the crew were cowards. Some did give up their chance at escape to keep going back for more passengers.
Jung Hyun-seon, Kim Ki-Woong, and Park Ji-young are all brave heroes who gave their young lives to help others. If only all of the crew and ‘rescuers’ had been so brave then so many more could have been saved.
If they were younger, maybe they related with the children, or the system hadn't forced the humanity out of them yer...
@@alext3811 Stop blaming "the system". Either you are good or you're not. Greed, upholding the status quo, and looking out for #1 is the problem. If Samsung had ponied up the cash to do something immediately it would have been a huge publicity move and a good deed. But nobody stepped up. They just didn't seem to care. Fucking psychos.
They did not think of themselves. Even as those they were supposed to be able to trust abandoned the ship, and them. They stayed to save as many people as they could. They're heroes and deserve to have their memories live on.
There were some true heroes. It's interesting that many were not trained rescuers, they were people who simply wanted to help.
I agree, those crew who did the right thing are heroes, if the company had done the right thing and properly trained their crew in maritime safety and evacuation, and made sure the captain and bridge crew were trustworthy and competent, maybe those few heroes wouldn't have been alone desperately trying to save who they could, and they would have been able to save a lot more.
This has been one of, If not THE best docu on this disaster that I’ve personally seen. Very well done. RiP all souls lost and my heart goes out to their loved ones.
By far the most detailed English language documentary. So well done....and absolutely infuriating
Very much agree!
Completely agree with the OP.
We were at school when the report of the sinking ferry hit the news; they then said that all students were rescued. By lunchtime we found out there was no rescue. Those kids were just a year younger than me.
I don’t really know why I felt the need to watch a youtube video on sewol, but I’m glad I did. Thank you for your fair and detailed report. The yellow yoochae flowers of jeju in your ending clip tells me how much thought went into your work.
꽃이 진다고 그대를 잊은 적 없다.
Remember 0416 🎗️
UA-cam is getting better, thanks to people like you who put their heart and soul into videos like this one.
Former President Park should still be in prison along with the cabinet members/government officials who participated in the lying bullsh1t. If they’d swallowed their pride and called on the US and other countries with navies that could properly handle the situation for emergency help, I bet many of the people who died could have been saved.
Kudos to Newstapa for refusing to believe the bullsh1t and kept digging for the truth. Without them and the other independent journalists, the families would never have been able to get the information they needed.
South Korean here. Actually wanted to make some statements regarding the 2016 protests and the story behind them. To be honest, the Sewol Ferry itself didn't play much of a role sparking the protest(it was though, one of the major issues that were brought up, once the prtotest started), but the Sewol Ferry itself was a marking point for the public to question the government's ability to control something. The issue of corruption was brought up by another mind boggling scandal. The true cause of the protest has nothing to do with Sewol, and it really is a long story to write down. Even the president's impeachment had nothing to do with the sewol, since the constitutional court wasn't able to find good legal excuse to charge her for that.(There probably is a good word for that in English, but I'm not aware of those fancy legal vocabulary). Not trying to advocate her or anything. Was also furious about this. Just wanted to add some information at this amazing work you've done.
Your English is really good!
I believe the word/phrase you are looking for is charge (before a trail) or acquit (at the conclusion of the trial)
What was the other scandal?
@@hammerjoe2008 It's called the 'Park GunHae - Choi Sunsil Gate', the name coming from the name of the president and her freind. Would really love to write it down here, but the scale of the scandal is quite huge. ' the president's freind acting as the president while the real president abandoning her duty' is the best effort I could make to summarize the scandal. Every Korean president has a scandal, and a lot of them were actually prisoned for that. Even the current president has a lot of scandals to be uncovered, usually regarding the North Korea aid issue and the Chinese solar power pannel scandal. It's really tiring to see nothing has changed and it even got worse through out the years as a Korean. Lol.
You make a great point, Sewol wasn't the cause, but it was a highly visible symptom of the corruption and incompetence people were angry about.
The word you are looking for is evidence, but you have explained the whole so well it is a minor thing .
Don’t apologise for your English , it is very good .
The most striking thing about this disaster is how there really aren't any excuses for how this was allowed to happen. Those of us living in democracies with developed economies can usually reassure ourselves that a disaster caused by such gross negligence can't happen to us. We can make excuses like "that was so long ago" or "the government was Communist" or "it was a poor country with low safety standards." None of these excuses apply here. This was a recent disaster in a developed, technologically advanced democracy caused and aggravated by a shocking disregard for human life by multiple parties involved. It shows something like this could happen anywhere, to any of us, which is a terrifying thought.
South Korea was a dictatorship until 1987, and has been an extremely corrupt democracy ever since, not to mention that Park Geun-hye, president at the time was the daughter of Park Chung-hee, a general who ruled the country from his successful coup d'état in 1961 until his assassination in 1979.
South Korea might be rich but it's no less corrupt than any second world pseudo democracy, especially given that all the wealth comes from the oligarchic Chaebol that contribute even further to government corruption.
It's a fundamental mistake to believe that a modern democracy necessarily has protections which are commonplace in established democracies such as the United States - or even older - the UK, France etc. It's not that the latter are free from catastrophes - often involving significant loss of life. It's just that health & safety legislature is primarily written in blood and they've been around long enough to have been through similar tragedies and enacted legislation to prevent such from happening again.
@@TazzeOptical Well said
@@deaddropholiday YES
The nature of the government--saving face is everything. Nothing else matters---period. They will allow thousands to die while having lunch if the "face" can be maintained.
I'm a Korean myself, and it was gut-wrenching watching this amazing documentary. There's a little bit more political background information I want to share. Korean right-wing politicians and their supporters believed that protesting president Park about the incomprehensible response made on the day of sinking of Sewol was just an evil trick set by the left. During president Park's reign, pro-right journalists spread the news saying that the families of the victims got huge amounts of compensation. It made the victim's families look immoral, especially to the right-wing supporters. That is why the victim's father was crying and shouting out that he didn't need any money and compensation at 44:28. Today the right-wings repeatedly say "It's just a traffic accident. The leftists are exploiting the tragedy politically" which can be basically translated as "Shut up I don't want to hear your complaints you lefty communist". Even after the impeachment of president Park they didn't change that much. The recently-elected president Yoon's party is the same one with Park's. I wonder what will happen in the next five years...
Good to know right-wing politicians are just as heartless and callous in other countries as they are in America. Garbage like this should motivate people to abandon such politicians just like those politicians do to victims of extreme injustice.
@@hauntedshadowslegacy2826 not just right wing are that bad. It's a feature of many politicians and governments in general
This is the same story around the world. It is sad that there are so few truth seekers. Governments around world spend most of the time lying to the people.
@@Littledog0808 Sure, corruption and extremism happen on both ends of the political spectrum, but I've yet to hear a moderate leftist call for the extermination of an entire demographic.
""Shut up I don't want to hear your complaints you lefty communist". Good thing they didn't shut up nor do they have to. Others were listening. Too about the government now. :/
The lies don’t even make sense. Like did they think nobody was going to notice hundreds of missing people?
I can't imagine what this has been like for the survivors. I don't understand the Korean language but I understood the heartbreak in that man's voice as he talk about his lost child. The sound of heartbreak is universal.
I have never been so ashamed and yet so proud of being Korean. So ashamed at the pieces of garbage the government and ship crew were and still are. So proud of the people and parents that wanted to do what was right and fought so hard. Every one of those children didn't have to die. My heart is so broken even after all these years.
It is a national tragedy that should never be forgotten; the moment these things fade from public memory, complacency and negligence will find their way into higher chain of command again
If it makes any difference at all, I am Australian but have spent time in Korea and worked with Koreans my whole life and I find your culture to be deeply "good"... where the goodness of heart is praised and people work so, so hard (too hard?) and are proud without being bigoted. I lost my passport in Seoul airport and am glad to say I was relieved that of all the countries I've been to and lived in, it happened there. Sure, I got some dirty looks but your honesty was prized more than other countries. God bless you, Korea.
It is horrific.
I am sad and proud for you too. And this is a tragedy beyond forgiving, and a testament for the great hearts and bravery of the Korean people who are brave and great and strong of heart.
This will happen again, just like the korean airline pilots that would rather kill passengers than disobey their elders. As a Korean-american myself, it pisses me off
If I'm not mistaken, I think I heard your voice crack a couple times, and it brought more tears to my eyes. There are some tragedies that words cannot adequately explain, and I commend you for having the guts to see this thru. It can't have been easy.
I came here to make the same comment, particularly at the end while seeing the photos of those who perished. The crack in the voice made the moment even more poignant. 😢
I have lived in South Korea since 2012 and to this day I struggle to watch anything related to this tragedy. I remember clearly being at work as the news reports started coming in and we were all in shock but relieved that the reports said everyone was rescued. Throughout the day as more information came and we found out that students were missing... it started sinking in. Many of us were crying in the teacher's office as we thought of those hundreds of students. In the following days, it was difficult. Even now watching the first few minutes of this, a knot forms in my throat. The news reports of the empty classrooms... the notes left by remaining students flooding the empty desks. This was definitely an extremely painful moment in my time here.
Isn't it disgusting to think this happened less than 10 years ago? - such corruption, lies and deceipt is utterly contemptible. RIP to those lost.
The USS bonHomme Richard being turned away when you realize what the vessel actually was becomes even more egregious. It wasn't exactly an Aircraft Carrier. It was a Marine Amphibious Assault ship. So a Helicopter Carrier with a small fleet of Landing Craft, both boats and Hovercraft. a full compliment of Embarked Marines including Helicopter Rescue Swimmers and SARS teams, and the ship could be converted to become a large scale floating hospital within a matter of minutes. Really the only thing a Full Fleet Carrier could do in this sort of situation was launch Helos. Which the Wasps actually carry more of. A Wasp class ship could easily and quickly evacuate 500 people off a vessel.
What a bizarre tragedy, where you have such a capable rescue turned away by the utterly incompetent. Most people would be pretty happy to see the US Navy in such a situation, regardless of your politics.
Normally it's the coastguard you want to see first, but not this time.
Truth there, and note that, once the distress call was received, the Richard did not leave her station near the Sewol until receiving orders from 7th Fleet to do so. Every Sailor and Marine on board was ready and willing to do whatever it took to get every single person off of that ferry - we all know, those of us who have gone to sea, that even a calm sea plays no favorites and it is the Law of the Sea to render all possible humanitarian assistance to a vessel in distress.
@@DeborahRosen99 That is one of the things that I find the most offensive about this whole thing, even if you don't want to send your people in to help, let those who are courageous, brave and willing, save those people, I am sure that if a Marine or Sailor had died during the rescue operation for whatever reason they all would have felt it was worth the sacrifice to help those in need.
For all the things people bash the US military you can never bash the men and women of any branch of being cowardly or unwilling to help those in need.
@@ilo3456 It makes them look bad, and face is more important to the incompetent than anything else.
I first heard of bonhomme richard when it was destroyed in a fire while docked in 2020
I'm sitting here in stunned disbelief. This is so heartbreaking and infuriating. Excellent job. This is incredible work and I know it was personally difficult for you. Thank you.
This made me physically sick, I can't imagine these poor families... Not only dealing with the death of their loved one, but dealing with the lies and incompetence of the government
i too got physically sick
@@NormandyFoxtrot it absolutely hit Malice levels, I mean how the USA handled New Orleans in Katrina was incompetence. This ferry was absolute deliberate malice.
@@filanfyretracker It was a huge hurricane and a city 11 feet below sea level with incompetent local leadership.
@@kyle857 And incompetent federal response. Don't think we're going to let you get away with leaving that out!
@@filanfyretracker it was absolutely malice. A lot was intentional on top of incompetence and negligence. I thought Costa Concordia was bad for incompetence and cowardice of the captain (the coastguard gave him a huge roasting on air) but this takes it to a whole other level.
As always, an excellent in-depth report. Keep up the good work.
as a former sailor...
this makes me batshit crazy...
especially when i know...our Coast Guard...will sacrifice their lives to attempt a rescue.
"You have to go out, but you don't have to come back."
Semper Paratus, indeed.
Wow. That motto is everything.
Ex Royal Navy seaman. I’m in tears. Fkn hell
Thats one of the best line I have ever read
I have heard that saying in a movie I recently watched. It was about a small coast guard station in the Us, It was called Finest hours. I have never in my life heard of a rescue person refusing to rescue someone. Im in disbelief.
That motto dates back to a regulation that basically said you can only determine a rescue is impossible or too dangerous if you try and fail. The example was that you can only decide it's too dangerous to launch boats if you attempt to launch them and are unsuccessful. ("The statement of the keeper that he did not try to use the boat because the sea or surf was too heavy will not be accepted, unless attempts to launch it were actually made and failed." It dates back to 1899, so I figured I should try and modernize the language. Taken from Wikipedia.
Diver Kim's death was just so sad and devastating, after all he had done, he was so traumatized by the retrieval operation
Mind blown. Your curation of information and skill at creating a cohesive examination of this tragedy along with the governmental corruption and its aftermath is stunning. I wept for the parents. Your series is a beautiful tribute to the love for their children and their shear tenacity to finding out the truth.
Watching this, words cannot describe how infuriating the response was to this. I was in the Navy for 11 years, and while I didn’t work in the diving community, I was well aware of what we had in terms of gear and training. The fact that the Korean government was so set on not letting anyone help, literally blows my mind as to how they could sit there and not do anything and everything they could to save as many people as they could. And to the crew members who chose to save their own lives, I hope that the guilt of letting all those children die eats away at your souls for the rest or your life.
Ex Royal Navy. Ditto
I can't believe it took me over 7 years to discover this tragedy. I'm 25 as of writing this, I was only 17 when the Seawol sank, a junior in my High School. The same age as most of the poor souls lost on the ferry. It turns my stomach, knowing so many people died so young and makes me feel guilty I hadn't heard of this sooner. This story was either not covered by American news at all (possibly due to the botched rescue, corruption, cover-up, etc) or was covered very passively, barely headline news.
I had no idea too until I saw a reel today! I'm from Australia I don't remember ever even hearing about it... It's so heartbreaking
I was also in high school during this time and it turns my stomach. I only just learned about this tragedy.
Are you sure you watched the news when you were 17? It was on my TV in headlines even for the next 11 days when this happened.. I even remember they showed the victims text messages to family on TV and reading a New York Times piece not short of a month after the tragedy.. what were you watching to the extent that you weren’t getting the news?
@@julyj6424 i didn't even watch the news and i heard about it.
@@Yakumoki It was definitely on the news here in Australia. I distinctly remember seeing this story on TV when it happened, and what I was doing at the time. I was in my final year of university writing a philosophy assignment on ethics.
It didn't get a lot of coverage though, simply because this was only a few weeks after MH370 went missing. There were Australians on that flight, unlike this ferry, so our media was focused on those Australian lives lost, while the entire world was looking for the plane. The Malaysian government had also withheld information, covered up facts, and misled the public and rescue teams for weeks, just like in this story, so everyone was super pissed off with Malaysia for wasting our time looking in the wrong area. I'm honestly surprised that South Korea could even find private companies to try and recover the ferry, considering the massive amount of resources that were being put into finding MH370 at the time.
So basically, South Korea got away with this barely being reported in world media, because of the timing with MH370 disappearing. As well as the corrupt Malaysian government making South Korea look extremely professional and capable, in comparison to their own disastrous and dishonest recovery attempts with MH370.
Regarding the pumping of water to the opposite side of the ship as her list gets more extreme, this is something we are warned against doing at maritime school given a ship with an unstable GZ (Sewol in this case) enters a loll condition and can easily list to the side the water is being pumped to and then subsequently capsize instead of returning to upright.
The ship doesn't want to stay upright or return to upright when she's in a loll condition, with some examples of this listing to both sides in a rapid see-saw motion as recorded in videos here on UA-cam.
We are advised to ballast the ship to the side she is already listing to, counter-intuitively, to come out of the loll condition and instead enter the list condition which isn't so immediately dangerous and can then subsequently be corrected carefully and gradually depending on the overall situation.
However things such down flooding (water flooding down into the ship once she lists some bit past the angle of main deck edge immersion) will make it a capsize situation. This would also be the same if shell doors such as the large side loading doors on a Ro-Ro ferry like Sewol were not watertight.
The Free Surface Effect (FSE) would also factor into all this more prominently on a Ro-Ro ship with large open plan decks, where only CMs of water can make the RoRo ship enter a loll condition (dangerously unstable and beyond the not ideal list condition).
The solutions to this are not sailing with an unstable ship in the first place be it due to improper cargo stowage or the unstable nature of her construction/modifications. The various load line and stability laws/regulations, started by Plimsoll (hence the Plimsoll Line) are meant to be adhered to and a lot goes into adhering to them with things such as the different methods for securing cargo, and Sewol's owners not doing so is more than negligent and more than manslaughter in my opinion. They would've known how criminally in the wrong they were but they didn't care and had no conscience.
As a sailor, I would not have been happy working on the Sewol given the levels of SNAFU which goes beyond the normal levels in the merchant shipping world.
A horrible waste of lives that hadn't really started yet. RIP.
I gurentee the RoRo ramp was not watertight.
This was the most frustrating thing I've listened to for a while, so I can't even BEGIN to imagine the depths of frustration and pain those family members went through having to deal with all of that. Good job on this video; it's a difficult topic to discuss but damn if you didn't knock it out the park.
I'm just speechless. The only thing I was saying throughout was why "why", just "why". This just shouldn't happen, too many things happened that just shouldn't have. Phenomenal work on this, my heart goes out to every single person affected by this horrible incident.
Yes ! That is what I was mumbling throughout. WHY? I know about saving face in that culture but the captain fleeing, nobody telling about all those children inside, the children themselves staying put beyond what one would expect reasonable. WHY ?
@@sachadee.6104 For the captain, he was just a coward or an idiot. As for the rest of the response, it was heavily seeped in culture. Not all of it, but it probably was responsible for a lot.
This is what happens when you're too "proud" to ask for help, and you don't want anyone to know you/your country aren't perfect.
I can’t imagine the pain the parent must’ve been in. They told their kids to trust the system and stay put; then when their kids died, that same system lied repeatedly and constantly led them on with false promises. The level of incompetence throughout all the agencies was shocking and infuriating to me. I hope the families and friends of those impacted are staying strong and recovering 💔
Your voice cracking at the very end got me. I can’t imagine just how much effort it took to compile the information on this tragic event, as well as the emotional toll on your heart when telling the story and editing the video.
Mad respect to you for sharing these incredible stories on your channel. This one is the most horrifying and absolutely heartbreaking to me. What those poor people abandoned on that ship had to have been feeling towards their end, and the families and friends of those lost…just devastating.
This is heart breaking. I can imagine as a parent receiving texts from my daughter saying she is still trapped on the vessel and realising that none of the officials were listening.
I have NEVER seen a tragedy caused by human error where everything that could’ve gone wrong actually did from beginning to end, let alone in 2014! From having an illegal ship operated by inept crew to not even have the decency to hire the sufficient amount of people to identify victims and notify families. Those poor poor people didn’t stand a chance, everyone failed them🎗
The thing is, a lot of it was NOT error. It was intentional. The government refused help and refused to be honest simply to “save face”. These people weren’t victims of human error. They all could have been saved pretty easily. They’re victims of intentional neglect for prides sake. Disgusting.
Add corruption by the government to the list of things that can go wrong.
@@Spooky_Platypus it makes me wonder if that is all there is to the story. Them wanting to stall raising the ship is something that is very strange to say the least, almost as if they were hiding something else on board.
Jeez, , hearing your voice crack at the end had me choking and holding back tears myself.
Such a despicable lack of empathy and humanity on the part of a lot of the government. May the souls lost rest in peace.
Thank you for making this and making it with appropriate reverence for those who went down with the ship, completely failed by so many gutless and incompetent people.
I've watched this story several times and have been trying to think of a comment. The best I can say is that I salute you Brick Immorter for your coverage. The last thing I can say is may peace find the souls lost and those left behind. To any South Koreans who read this. Know a little man in the hills a world away weeps with you.
❤
I feel that, had the ROK Government immediately ceded the rescue effort to the vastly more experienced US Navy, their Japanese partners and other experienced divers under control of the USN, I'm absolutely positive that more people could've been rescued.
This was so well told. I've seen lots of videos about the Sewol tragedy but they tend to gloss over a lot of the politics of it. Never realised how badly those grieving people were failed before this one.
This is probably the most in depth video I've ever seen, about any disaster. Hats off to you sir.
The MV Sewol's senior officers are up there with those of the Costa Concordia. The South Korean coast guard fell far short in getting their act together.
Yeah, I was thinking the actual sinking of, and the actions of the crew of the Sewol and Concordia were equally outrageous. But the Concordia, with it's low number of deaths and the excellent response of the Italian Coast Guard, is more meme than tragedy in the minds of the public (which I realize is little comfort to the people who did die, and their families). But the Sewol is so ridiculous in the corruption, incompetence and lies from everyone involved, it's almost hard to believe it's real, especially in a wealthy country like South Korea.
Schettino eventually ordered abandon ship. The Sewol's captain never did.
There's also a cultural difference. Passengers on the Concordia took it upon themselves to get to muster stations while those students followed what they were told.
As a survivor of hurricane Katrina, I am getting flashbacks from the insanity of all agencies involved. I remembered when this happened but I never knew the whole story. It reminds me of the survivors that made it through the Katrina but died afterwards from heat, dehydration, illness and various other things. How we waited 3 days for water with a heat index of 110f. People died waiting while these agencies pointed a finger at each other. The Mexican military were the first to help my area. They didnt wait for orders... they just got to work. The us coast guard did the best they could but it was such a wide spread flooding that many had to wait for water and food. Thinking about the incompetence of the aftermath of Katrina makes it hard to watch this. Also my former coworker that lost his daughter on this ship. He talked about her a lot but hardly about her passing. We both lost a child so I think he felt more comfortable telling me about her. She was a gifted athlete and singer. She liked to bake different cookies. She had bad temper but didnt stay mad long.. especially with her younger brothers. She wanted to be doctor and had started taking anatomy classes. She taught her brothers how to write and made their school lunches. Those are the things I remember. He said that being made to believe she was alive was especially hard for the family. He said when he heard that, he boasted out loud something like "i knew she'd make it! I taught her to swim from a young age". 😢
His family moved to Japan and he got a job teaching english in Nagoya. Thats where i met him. I haven't heard from him since 2021. After watching part 1 I sent him an email. I pray they are okay.
I’m so sry for your loss
Yes, the first thing I thought was Katrina. Katrina was so bad because on a couple of occasions the media talked to survivors on day 2 that needed help and day 4 when the media came back the people had died. The situation in S. Korea was very similar. The boat is sitting there and everyone can see plenty of windows so they knew people were alive and did NOTHING. It's a disgrace.
35:57
never have I heard clusterfu** used so professionally and so aptly to describe a situation. Incredibly well put together
44:37 that broke me seeing a grown man on his knees begging for answers just makes me sick how these officials did nothing but stall and argue with one another
Not only did the government allow the deaths of so many , they also endangered recovery divers , a gruelling, gruesome task .
This is a brilliant, informative and compassionate video, one of the best in my opinion .
I really appreciate your coverage of this event. I love when creators dare to make longer form content for this platform, I enjoy the more in-depth analysis and that you take the time necessary to explain more complex concepts and ideas. I sent you a fiver on Paypal this month and I will make sure to drop another one soon. I love quality content on niche topics and I will gladly express my support in form of a small financial contribution and by sharing your channel with my friends.
i'm a foreigner, but i live in korea, i live near the port where the sewol ferry sails, watching the bodies of students being brought up is heartbreaking news
Marine lifeguards were brought in, but they weren't as flexible as the fishing boats nearby? Other lifeguards in the US wanted to help but were turned down? This is a secret, a secret that will never be solved
This was an excellent in depth report on not just the tragedy of the Sewol ferry incident and the associated loss of life, but a thorough investigation of the corruption and ineptitude of the Korean government and their handling of this disaster. Combined with part one of this video, this is an award-worthy video exposé. One of the best I've ever watched.
This is sickening and infuriating. The levels of incompetence, corruption and heartlessness in this "avoidable" accident is truly astounding. Thank god for the parents and the few in the media who wouldn't let this go and pursued the truth until it could no longer be concealed.
Those still alive that had a hand in this tragedy should be haunted and tormented for the rest of their miserable lives.
To Brick Immortar - your content is outstanding. Hands down as good if not better than documentaries seen on mainstream network TV or streaming channels.
There's no way that a government can be this thoroughly incompetent. After a while, this starts to feel _intentional._ That ridiculous debacle with parking a barge right above the only decent dive site, getting deliberately handsy and waffley with equipment and forms and procedures and who the bloody hell knows what else just to kill as much time as possible....
There's no way anyone is _that_ unintentionally incompetent. This takes effort.
One major issue is that the boots on the ground were more scared of those above them those they were supposed to serve. The leadership just wasn't in the real world, only caring about money.
Corrupt governments are like this, you see, rather then that money going to pay for skilled staff, the money disappears and very little value is paid for with it. Then disaster strikes and the government is completely powerless, because it's been devoted to self preservation of this corruption. And the worst thing is, nothing has changed. Over and over corruption in South Korea happens over and over again. Corruption is a cancer, and it's up to every individual to cut it out where ever it shows up. In your homes, at work, in school. You need to work hard to get rid of it.
South Korea on the surface looks as stable and developed as Japan... but it's mostly a facade, and behind it the government and bureaucracy are a lot more like North Korea than they want to admit...
I feel like you just channeled Terry Pratchett there. Well said.
@@planescaped Yup. The West does not understand the the level of corruption that South Korea and other Asian countries hide so well.
Having watched a few documentaries on this before, I have to say: this is the only one that fully captures the depths and societal context of the negligence that let's things like this happen. Thank you for putting your own expertise in to make this, and for aggregating some of the excellent work Korean journalists have done on this. It's an important story, and nothing else I've watched has done it justice like this.
The loss of life is obviously the most importan thing, but out of all this the thing that pisses me off the most is Park's pardon. It's like "whoops, we almost let a powerful person face the consequences of their actions." There was literally no reason for her pardon except for "presidents aren't supposed to go to prison."
The actions and reactions from the S. Korean government involving everything with the Sewol tragedy, from the botched "rescue" to going so far out of their way to lie about what happened afterwards, are something I've never been able to logically wrap my brain around.
Like they put in so much work trying to lie their way around it when it would have not only been less work for them and more efficient to turn it over to the private sectors who already knew what to do when it came to floating or recovering the ship, but they also completely ruined any credibility with the public that they could've possibly had.
And if the argument against accepting the help was that they didn't wanna look incompetent if they had to rely on outside help to get the job done, wouldn't being seen as honest about their shortcomings and doing everything that needed to be done to save people been better than the mess that did end up happening??
And how on EARTH did the government officials think such easily disproved lies about the rescue of the children would work??? Like HOW?? How can you be so disconnected from reality??
I'm sorry about the stream of thought comment but it's been years since the Sewol went down and I still can't wrap my mind around the dumbass decisions these grown-ass adults made that even a toddler would think were stupid.
They didn't realize the world had changed and the truth would come out
Yes, the whole event is hard to catch and drives a " normal " dude mad .... So f...... up in everything there, it's unimaginable! Cowards is pretty euphemism - so sad ....
Back in the day the government could easily control the narrative and make people believe what they wanted them to believe.
Nowadays that is significantly harder, and impossible to do fully.
My deepest gratitude to your team for finishing this story in such a professional, reverent manner. I hope you all can take a break as recovery from the personal trauma of assembling this had to be substantial. May Sewol’s victims, heroes, and their families find peace. ❤️
Outstanding presentation of this horrendous event. So many children lost, so much pain that lives on, and some serious failures to serve justice. Just a heartbreaking story.
Thanks!
I can’t express how badly my heart still breaks for the children
Such a tragedy and clusterf*** on so many level. The mind boggles. Some stellar investigative work from BI, resulting in a comprehensive documentary, keeping it respectful throughout.
All in the name of 'saving fucking face'
What really bothers me is that they saw this ship listing to such an extreme degree, parked right next to it, knew there were people on board, and did nothing. It’s unforgivable. I just wish peace and healing to everyone who lives on with the grief and pain from this tragedy. I’m not sure how, but I hope it finds them.
Unforgivable
Wow the start with the ship horns and the music is so tragically beautiful!
It’s hard to express one’s feelings to such gross negligence and such a huge loss of life, but somehow, you managed to do it, and did it very well. Thank you for these videos. They are so important and show people stories that otherwise would not see the light of day again.
Today is the 10th anniversary of the Sewol Ferry Memorial in Korean time. The Sewol ferry captain caused great damage to students and passengers by making them wait on the ship. I will continue to remember the Sewol Ferry until the day I die.
The ferry can be viewed on Google Earth/Maps in the SW part of the greater Mokpo harbor area and found by searching for "Sewol Ferry Mokpo New Port Mount Place". My heart felt condolences to all the victims families.
That’s pretty nuts, just had a look and you can see it.
The amount and degree of corruption and sheer negligence by those culpable for this tragedy are unfathomable. Thank you for your incredible videos. Prayers for those who were affected.
I really like the horn blasts we hear at the beginning of the tribute section in this video. It's almost like Honor and Remembrance is being bestowed upon those who perished in the sinking. May a tragic and ill-mannered event like this never happen again.
Whenever I haven't cried in a while I listen to the first minute of this video
It is. It's called a Master Salute and is used to recognize and honor special circumstances.
It kills me when I hear it used for the Edmund Fitzgerald.😪
43:55 This is the point where I genuinely started to cry. Beforehand, I felt nothing but loathing at all of the people who outright failed to do their jobs.
But that poor father, who prefaced that all he wanted was to die just to see his child again... I don't know a single word of Korean but I understood the pain in his voice.
Thank you for making this documentary.
And all but like 2 people wouldn't even look at him while he spoke.
I didn't know this history. I am crying here. My heart is broken. How monstrous to leave kids to die when you could have saved them. May the Lord comfort the families. Lord, I scream for Your Justice.
Makes me want to weep! I cannot imagine how it must feel to lose a loved one in those circumstances, let alone your child! Hard to watch but very well put together. Well done, Sir!
This deserves an award for outstanding journalism along with world wide viewing! Well done, and THANK-YOU for such an outstanding effort! It was such an unimaginable, unnecessary tragedy and the world must NEVER forget.
Those poor divers, what they must have seen. So the families of the perished not only lost their loved ones but also lost their faith in Government leaders. What a horrific event
Thank you for covering this
Keep well
I am here because it's 10 years now. I can't express how sad I am, about all these young lives that could be saved but nobody cane to rescue. RIP💔
Здравствуйте. Я участвовал в подеме Севола .судно Белый Марлин.Мы доставили Севол после подема в порт .Было очень тяжело эмоционально при швартовке к причалу .родственники погибших стояли на коленях и плакали .Нам было тяжело но людям потерявших своих близких в тысячя раз тяжелей .Корея! Я помню о твоём горе .Мы сделали самую малость .вернули Севол в порт но не вернули жизни .
Thank you for sharing.
It really seems like everyone in power just wanted everyone on the ship to die. It's insane how calloused and cold every official was in this tragedy.
It's worst than that. To want someone to die requires hate. This situation has nothing. No human emotion can explain this. It's just complete apathy.
@@Megumi646 Actually, there's hate. Hate that this situation happens while they're still in office. Hate that this ships just have to sink during their early years of their administration, which is an important time to garner affection from the public for their next election.
Hate that it is THEIR responsibility to rescue them and that they have to potentially spend their money and risking their reputation to try to save them.
And hate that Sewol did not sunk earlier then it did, they could've says that they have no time to save them and recieve less criticism as a result.
Those poor kids - and the teachers who told them to stay put even though something was clearly wrong! Utterly tragic. How terribly the Korean government have handled this too - awful.
Thanks for the video. Was looking for part 2 when I saw the other 'part 1' was done. Maybe an idea to say in the description part 2 coming soon, when/if it is?
Agreed! After having seen Part 1, which was incredibly good (just as this one), I spent a long time looking for Part 2 hehe.
has staying put EVER worked when a ship was sinking?
It was an automated message on the speaker system who told everybody to stay put. The teachers did their best to protect their students and some died with them. How should they know better than the crew (whose fault it was)?
@@bobzeepl yes and no, in the days of steam, the men who stayed put at their posts aboard The Titanic in the engineering spaces kept the ship afloat far longer than anyone expected. By maintaining steam pressure in a few boilers, provided the power to keep the lights on and the pumps running, slowing the rate of sinking and allowing more the chance to abandon ship. Even with the haphazard half empty deployment of the lifeboats. And of course no in that many who stayed at their posts would go down with the ship.
In regards to the passengers aboard ship, ofcourse no, staying put is signing your own death sentence regardless of the times, past present and future.
The amount of disasters where people are told to stay put but end up dying - this, Grenfell, twin towers - I've come to the conclusion that if I'm ever caught up I'm something, I'll take my chances, follow my own senses and the situation as it unfolds, act accordingly and ignore any stay put orders. If I can get out under my own steam or with others then I'll take it, stay put orders be damned.
those kids were let down by everyone that was supposed rescue them :/ they deserved better. they deserve to be alive.
Nothing Will ever be more haunting to me then the image of the Sewol being carried On the Dockwise White Marlin, seemingly being escorted by multiple ships to it's final resting place. Excellent work on this video.
"177k per victim was paid out to families" Did that come with a complementary slap in the face? What a joke of a settlement.
Thank you Brick Immortar. This is the most thorough Investigative documentary I have seen to date on this dreadful tragedy. Since the day I learned of this event It has never left my mind. Rip to all those lost that day, I hope their families can eventually find peace.