BEIJING, July 25 (Xinhuanet) -- It's been exactly 100 days since a passenger ferry sank off the southwest coast of South Korea. More than 300 people died, and 10 are still missing. The families of the victims and their supporters marched through the rain on Thursday, demanding parliament to enable a special law that they believe will help get to the bottom of what happened.
One hundred days have passed since the sinking of the Sewol on April 16th that killed more than 300 passengers on board, most of them from the same high school. I’m standing outside the National Assembly in Seoul, where the families of the victims continue their march for the second day.
"We are marching because we hope something like this will never happen again in South Korea after April 16th," Father of victim Kim Young-Rae said.
They are demanding for a legislation to inquire into what caused the death of more than 300. They say, too little has been done to establish the truth behind why the ferry sank. And no one is taking responsibility. They want to name half of the experts from the independent team to pursue this inquiry.
But here in this national assembly building, the ruling and opposition parties are not able to reach an agreement.
Some of the family members are on a hunger strike for 11 straight days. They use their last strength to shout out, that they will not stop until the special law is enabled.
"I am on a hunger strike for the 11th day. There is no deadline. You keep asking, but we will not stop until a proper special law is enabled, and we find out who is responsible," Father of victim Yoo Kyung-Keun said.
The president’s tears in May’s public speech was not enough. They don’t want any physical or financial compensation. They only want the government to get to the end of this, to find out the truth, and punish those responsible.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
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