On December 14, 19 months after the Sewol accident and 13 months after the enactment of the Special Act on the Sewol Disaster, the first session of the hearing on the Sewol incident was held at the YWCA conference room in Myeong-dong, Seoul. This day's hearing focused on verifying whether the initial rescue operation and the government's response to the Sewol accident were appropriate or not. Thirteen people from the Coast Guard including Kim Suk-kyoon, former commissioner of the Korea Coast Guard attended as witnesses. Kim Kyung-il, former captain of Mokpo Coast Guard patrol boat 123 currently in prison on charges of inadequate rescue operations, also attended in his prisoner's uniform.
Choi, a survivor of the Sewol accident, attended as a witness and said, "The waves were calm and I never thought that the boat would sink. Naturally, we thought the Coast Guard had taken every measure to rescue the passengers, but not a single person came up. I want to ask whether or not the Coast Guard rescue manual states that they have the obligation to board the ship and rescue passengers in a dangerous situation where the boat is at risk of sinking," showing tears.
Members of the Sewol special committee pointed out that "The initial response was insufficient, for they did not even attempt to communicate with the Sewol." Yu Yeon-sik, former head of situations at the West Regional Coast Guard said, "The Jindo VTS (vessel traffic control center) was supposed to report in real time, but the West Regional Coast Guard situation room at the time was busy handling other tasks and could not order them to make a report." He continued, "At the time we never imagined that an elite like the captain of the ferry would take such action." Kim Suk-kyoon, the Coast Guard commissioner at the time also said, "We thought the dispatch of rescue personnel was top priority, and we did not know at the time (that the Coast Guard was not communicating with the Sewol)."
Questions were raised about the fact that there were three types of transcripts of the Coast Guard's trunked radio system (TRS) communications submitted to the Board of Audit and Inspection and the Prosecutors' Office. Gwon Yeong-bin, head of the fact-finding subcommittee pointed out, "Among the exchanges that took place for 27 minutes at 9:18, some are just labeled 'multiple communications,' while in other transcripts important facts such as '450 people' are included in the reported information. This looks suspiciously like a deliberate attempt to leave information out." Yi Chun-jae, the head of the Security and Safety Bureau (head of the rescue headquarters) at the Coast Guard head office at the time explained, "Our officers recorded the transcripts while listening to the recordings whenever we were asked to submit the transcripts by agencies like the Board of Audit and Inspection, and we also submitted the original audio file at the time. Some parts that we missed when listening to the audio file, we later added to the transcripts."
Committee members continued to question the Coast Guard's initial response to the accident, but most witnesses consistently answered insincerely saying, "I do not remember." When asked, "Did you hear what kind of rescue order Kim Mun-hong, head of the Mokpo Coast Guard gave to 123?" Yi Jae-du, captain of the patrol boat 3009 of the Mokpo Coast Guard answered, "It should be in the transcripts of the phone conversations." But Kim Kyung-il, former captain of 123 said, "I have no memory," when asked, "Did you receive an order from the Mokpo commissioner before you arrived at the site?"
More than 90 family members of the Sewol victims attended the hearing in a mostly calm manner. They let out a sigh each time a witness avoided an answer or said something outrageous. Kim Dong-su (50), the "Sewol hero" who saved more than twenty students at the time of the accident, was also in the audience. Kim said, "Honestly, this is too much!" during the hearing and stood up and tried to stab himself with a sharp object. Immediately before the incident Kim Jin, a member of the committee raised allegations of a conspiracy between the Coast Guard and the Sewol crew asking Park Sang-uk, former 123 crew, "Why didn't you move to vessel 123 along with him (the helmsman)?" and Park answered, "I think 123 was pushed away by the tide." Kim received a minor injury and was assisted out of the room. Kim's wife was also taken to the hospital after showing signs of having trouble breathing. Kim Su-hyeon, former head of the West Regional Coast Guard, who had attended as a witness, was also taken to a hospital due to elevated blood pressure.
The five members of the committee recommended by the ruling party including Vice-chairman Lee Heon were absent at the hearing this day. The special committee will hold a hearing on December 15 and 16 and review the appropriateness of the response to the marine accident and problems in supporting the victims at the site of the accident.
Choi, a survivor of the Sewol accident, attended as a witness and said, "The waves were calm and I never thought that the boat would sink. Naturally, we thought the Coast Guard had taken every measure to rescue the passengers, but not a single person came up. I want to ask whether or not the Coast Guard rescue manual states that they have the obligation to board the ship and rescue passengers in a dangerous situation where the boat is at risk of sinking," showing tears.
Kim Kyung-il, former captain of vessel 123, in prison for inadequate rescue operations at the time of the Sewol accident attends the first hearing of the Sewol special committee at YWCA in Myeong-dong, Seoul on December 14 in his prisoner's uniform. Yi Jun-heon
Members of the Sewol special committee pointed out that "The initial response was insufficient, for they did not even attempt to communicate with the Sewol." Yu Yeon-sik, former head of situations at the West Regional Coast Guard said, "The Jindo VTS (vessel traffic control center) was supposed to report in real time, but the West Regional Coast Guard situation room at the time was busy handling other tasks and could not order them to make a report." He continued, "At the time we never imagined that an elite like the captain of the ferry would take such action." Kim Suk-kyoon, the Coast Guard commissioner at the time also said, "We thought the dispatch of rescue personnel was top priority, and we did not know at the time (that the Coast Guard was not communicating with the Sewol)."
Questions were raised about the fact that there were three types of transcripts of the Coast Guard's trunked radio system (TRS) communications submitted to the Board of Audit and Inspection and the Prosecutors' Office. Gwon Yeong-bin, head of the fact-finding subcommittee pointed out, "Among the exchanges that took place for 27 minutes at 9:18, some are just labeled 'multiple communications,' while in other transcripts important facts such as '450 people' are included in the reported information. This looks suspiciously like a deliberate attempt to leave information out." Yi Chun-jae, the head of the Security and Safety Bureau (head of the rescue headquarters) at the Coast Guard head office at the time explained, "Our officers recorded the transcripts while listening to the recordings whenever we were asked to submit the transcripts by agencies like the Board of Audit and Inspection, and we also submitted the original audio file at the time. Some parts that we missed when listening to the audio file, we later added to the transcripts."
Committee members continued to question the Coast Guard's initial response to the accident, but most witnesses consistently answered insincerely saying, "I do not remember." When asked, "Did you hear what kind of rescue order Kim Mun-hong, head of the Mokpo Coast Guard gave to 123?" Yi Jae-du, captain of the patrol boat 3009 of the Mokpo Coast Guard answered, "It should be in the transcripts of the phone conversations." But Kim Kyung-il, former captain of 123 said, "I have no memory," when asked, "Did you receive an order from the Mokpo commissioner before you arrived at the site?"
"Witness Oath" Kim Suk-kyoon, former Coast Guard commissioner swears in as a witness at the first hearing by the Sewol Special Committee on December 14.
More than 90 family members of the Sewol victims attended the hearing in a mostly calm manner. They let out a sigh each time a witness avoided an answer or said something outrageous. Kim Dong-su (50), the "Sewol hero" who saved more than twenty students at the time of the accident, was also in the audience. Kim said, "Honestly, this is too much!" during the hearing and stood up and tried to stab himself with a sharp object. Immediately before the incident Kim Jin, a member of the committee raised allegations of a conspiracy between the Coast Guard and the Sewol crew asking Park Sang-uk, former 123 crew, "Why didn't you move to vessel 123 along with him (the helmsman)?" and Park answered, "I think 123 was pushed away by the tide." Kim received a minor injury and was assisted out of the room. Kim's wife was also taken to the hospital after showing signs of having trouble breathing. Kim Su-hyeon, former head of the West Regional Coast Guard, who had attended as a witness, was also taken to a hospital due to elevated blood pressure.
The five members of the committee recommended by the ruling party including Vice-chairman Lee Heon were absent at the hearing this day. The special committee will hold a hearing on December 15 and 16 and review the appropriateness of the response to the marine accident and problems in supporting the victims at the site of the accident.
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