• Obama to pray for victims

    President Barack Obama is expected to express his condolences to the victims of the sunken ferry Sewol and their families during his two-day trip starting today. A Cheong Wa Dae official said that it will be up to the U.S. head of state as to where and how he does…

    Read More »
  • ‘It’s their last day in school’

    ANSAN — Danwon High School reopened Thursday but the grief from the loss of students in the tragic Sewol ferry disaster was palpable. The school had been closed since the April 16 sinking of the ferry that was taking hundreds of the school’s students on a field trip to Jeju…

    Read More »
  • Denial, anger… and grief in Ansan

    ANSAN — It’s hard not to find someone unrelated to the tragedy of the sunken ferry in this town which feels like a giant funeral home. From banks to government buildings, banners express the hope of residents wishing the return of the missing students in Gojan-dong, the home of the…

    Read More »
  • Culture can’t explain it all

    CNN, Time react typically to Sewol tragedy Last Friday, two days after the Sewol sank, a CNN reporter made an on-air remark that felt all too familiar. “What (Korean) culture prizes in its children, its students, is obedience,” she said. “So when they were told to stay put by an…

    Read More »
  • Ferry owner’s home raided

    Prosecutors raided the home of Yoo Byung-eun, owner of Chonghaejin Marine, and the offices of a dozen affiliates of the ferry firm, Wednesday. The raid was part of an escalating investigation into the Yoo family after the Chonghaejin ferry Sewol sank off the country’s southwestern coast, leaving 157 dead and…

    Read More »
  • N. Korea offers condolences over S. Korean ferry victims

    North Korea has expressed its condolences over the sinking of a South Korean ferry in a telephone message through its Red Cross Society, the unification ministry said Wednesday. The message under the name of Kang Su-rin, the chief of the Red Cross Society of North Korea, was sent to Yoo…

    Read More »
  • Speculation about NK’s nuclear test growing

    Speculation is mounting about another North Korean nuclear test as heightened activity has been detected at the country’s underground nuclear test site. “Many activities are currently being seen at North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site,” said Kim Min-seok, spokesman of Ministry of National Defense, Tuesday. “The North can launch a…

    Read More »
  • Salvage work considered cautiously

    Some relatives of the missing and government officials were cautiously weighing the potential start of work to raise the sunken ferry Sewol as rescue operations entered a seventh day to no avail, Tuesday. While the families demand prioritizing rescue operations over salvaging the ship, there are also growing concerns that…

    Read More »
  • Inspectors, operators thrive on dirty ties

    Investigations into the sunken ferry Sewol are revealing the extent of cronyism among ship owners and safety inspectors. Allegations of this culture in play is behind a lax safety check of the Sewol ferry which went to sea on the evening of April 15 without important safety standards in place,…

    Read More »
  • More questions arise for cause

    Questions about the cause of the ferry Sewol’s sinking have been raised because its location tracking records show that the vessel did not make a sharp turn before beginning to list. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has so far suspected that the vessel lost stability and sank because the…

    Read More »