[Analysis] Sewol ferry disaster haunts nation in wake of Itaewon tragedy

President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, left in front row, attend a memorial service for the victims of the Itaewon crowd crush at the Jogye Temple in central Seoul, Friday. The event was hosted by the nation's largest Buddhist sect, the Jogye Order. Joint Press Corps

President learns lesson from 2014 maritime disaster, tries to minimize fallout on his leadership

By Kang Hyun-kyung

President Yoon Suk-yeol is walking a tightrope in the wake of the deadly crowd crush in Itaewon that killed 156 people and injured many others.

There is an old Korean phrase taken from Chinese characters, "nae-woo-wae-hwan," which refers to having a lethal combination of trouble both at home and abroad. Yoon is now in the midst of such turmoil, particularly in the aftermath of the Itaewon tragedy. In a situation like this, any minor mistake or seemingly trivial miscalculation could force political leaders to face irreversible negative consequences.

On Thursday, Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo shared a piece of advice for Yoon on Facebook, urging the president to stand firm to win against both Pyongyang and the criticism of his handling of domestic politics.

"Mr. President, please note that if you stumble in a time of crisis like this one, which the nation is currently going through, I'm afraid you'll face a situation akin to what happened (to former President Park Geun-hye) in the aftermath of the Sewol ferry tragedy," he wrote. "I trust you and you will get through it. Stand firm against North Korea and leave no room for any dispute regarding domestic problems."

With his words, "a situation akin to what happened in the aftermath of the Sewol ferry tragedy," the Daegu mayor was referring to the political fallout former President Park Geun-hye faced after the sinking of the Sewol ferry in April 2014, in which over 300 passengers died or went missing. She faced severe criticism for her inadequate response to the disaster and attempts to downplay government culpability. Her popularity dramatically declined, which later paved the way for her impeachment.

Whenever a national tragedy strikes, Korea's presidents are prone to being trapped in a game of expectations. There are certain things that political leaders are encouraged to do and there are also certain things that they are prohibited from doing when the nation is grieving.

One of the things political leaders are advised to do is to make sure the public knows that they are in charge and that they are with the grieving people during such difficult times.

This is what former President Park failed to do, and later on, she paid the price for it.

After the Sewol ferry sank off the waters of the southwestern port city of Jindo on April 16, 2014, Park did not make a public appearance for seven hours. Park was said to have directed her deputies to take necessary measures to rescue the people at 10:15 a.m. that day, and hours later, she showed up at the Ministry of Interior and Safety for a briefing regarding the ferry disaster. Little is known about what she did and where she had been in between, and her absence from the public eye during that critical time period generated various speculations and rumors about her whereabouts.

The controversy of Park's "missing seven hours" lingered and eventually led to the collapse of her presidency and political career. She was described as a president who was not with the people when they were desperately fighting for their lives.

Another former president, Moon Jae-in, also faced similar criticism earlier this year, when he faced questions about what he did in the hours after having been alerted in 2020 that a South Korean national was spotted in North Korean waters. What Moon did during the three hours between when he was first informed that a fisheries official had drifted into North Korean waters, and when the official was brutally killed, are questions that have dogged him even after the end of his presidential term. As with Park, the "truth of those three hours" has not been properly revealed yet.

President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee carry flower bouquets to be placed at a memorial altar at Jogye Temple in Seoul, Friday. Joint Press Corps

In times of crisis, South Korea's political leaders and especially presidents are advised not to do certain things. Playing golf or drinking with others are some of these taboo activities. If they are caught doing any of these insensitive activities, they will pay the price.

Yoon is at a critical juncture in his presidency.

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On the national security front, North Korea's provocations have intensified to a whole new and deeply worrying level. South Korea is facing an unprecedented security threat from the totalitarian state, which has launched a combination of missile, air and maritime provocations to protest against the South's joint drills with the United States. The problem is that there seem to be few remaining policy options that South Korea and the United States can take to thwart North Korea's threats.

At the same time, South Korea's economic woes have grown worse, leading some analysts to liken the current situation to the beginning of what the nation went through in the late 1990s when the Asian Financial Crisis struck.

Yoon's leadership put to test

As seen in the Sewol ferry disaster, the Itaewon crowd crush is the latest and most volatile issue that has put Yoon's leadership to the test.

The Itaewon tragedy is like a ticking time bomb for the president. It could be detonated anytime, anywhere. Once it does, the impact would extend far beyond one's imagination and could be as huge as the one that led to the demise of former President Park.

Park's term was cut short with her impeachment, and the epicenter of the issue was her inappropriate handling of the tragic ferry disaster, which saw hundreds of people lose their lives, mostly high school students who were on a field trip from the capital area to the scenic island of Jeju.

President Yoon is all too familiar with the serious impact that a disaster like the Sewol ferry sinking or the Itaewon crowd crush can have on a sitting president.

Since Monday, when memorial altars for the victims of the crowd crush were set up in several different places in Seoul, including Seoul Plaza near City Hall, Yoon has visited one of them every single day to pay his respects to the victims.

On Friday, the grim-faced president took a moment of silence, looked at the photos of those who perished in the crowd crush, and read messages and letters written for them before he left. His daily routine (of visiting one of the memorial altars) continued until Saturday.

In a speech at a memorial service hosted by nation's main Buddhist sect, the Jogye Order, later in the day, President Yoon became emotional and said he was "deeply saddened" whenever thinking about the parents and family members who lost their beloved sons and daughters.

"As the president who has to take responsibility for the lives and safety of the people, I feel very heartbroken and sorry," he said. "I am well aware that a great responsibility lies with me and the government to deal with the accident responsibly and, above all, to prevent such a tragedy from happening again," he said, implying he would do his utmost to prevent tragic incidents like the crowd crush from happening again in the future.

Earlier, President Yoon had designated this week until Nov. 5 as a national period of mourning.

Lee Cheol-soon, a professor of political science at Pusan National University, said he thinks President Yoon's response to the Itaewon tragedy is a little bit excessive, but that it could help him stay in control.

Lee said that President Yoon reminds him of the impeached President Park Geun-hye.

"It seems that President Yoon had President Park and her fate in mind when he tried to reach out actively to the victims and their families. His frequent appearances in the public eye will help him avoid the criticism that he was not there when the nation was mourning," the political scientist told The Korea Times. "I think President Yoon will be better off if he keeps being seen by the public during the mourning period. In times of crisis, doing more is a lot better than doing nothing."

Lee said he thinks that the Sewol tragedy was shamelessly misused for political gains by a certain group of politicians.

However, Lee said that he disagrees with the president having set a national period of mourning.

"All of us are mourning on our own and I think mourning is not something that should be led by the government," he said.

Then President Park Geun-hye delivers an address about the sinking of the passenger ferry Sewol in this May, 2014 file photo. Korea Times file