Sewol students’ belongings could be forcibly removed from Danwon High School

Posted on : 2016-03-19 20:52 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Ahead of second anniversary, victims’ parents still wish to keep the students’ belongings in place as a memorial for their loss
Danwon High School graduates and members of the public march at the government memorial altar for victims of the Sewol ferry sinking
Danwon High School graduates and members of the public march at the government memorial altar for victims of the Sewol ferry sinking

Parents of students at Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province announced plans to on Mar. 25 forcibly clear classrooms maintained there in honor of victims of the Apr. 2014 sinking of the Sewol ferry.

The decision comes after the group 4/16 Sewol Families for Truth and a Safer Society refused to ratify a provisional plan that would have the classrooms maintained only through the sinking’s second anniversary on Apr. 16. Students from Danwon High School accounted for a large number of the more than 300 people who died in the sinking.

“Between Apr. 25 and May 5, we will be clearing away all items and archived materials in the maintained classrooms,” said Danwon High school management committee chairman Jang Gi in a May 18 interview paper issued jointly with parents of current students at the auditorium of the Ansan Office of Education. The paper was signed “members of the Danwon High School education family.”

“We made this decision after 4/16 Sewol Families declined to ratify a provisional plan mediated by the Korea Conference of Religions for Peace (KCRP) and ratified by the Gyeonggi Province Office of Education, Danwon High School, and the Danwon High School student parents’ committee that would preserve the classrooms only through the second anniversary on Apr. 16,” Jang explained.

A memorial period for the victims is currently planned through the second anniversary on Apr. 16. Parents of the deceased students will be asked to collect items from the classrooms by Apr. 24, with the remainder of items to be cleared away between Apr. 25 and May 5. A remodeling event is also scheduled for the maintained classrooms between May 6 and 15.

Parents of current students also said they will not be attending a scheduled fifth round of discussions mediated by KCRP on Mar. 24.

At previous KCRP-mediated discussions on the classroom issue on May 8, a 4/16 Sewol Families representative reached a provisional agreement with a representative of parents of current students at the school to maintain the classrooms only through Apr. 16. Plans were set for final ratification at another discussion on Mar. 17 - but this time the family members’ group refused to agree. There is now a chance that a clash may occur as parents of current students move to forcibly clear away the deceased students’ personal effects.

According to the provisional agreement, memorial items such as the books and chairs used by the students would be relocated to an annex of the Ansan Office of Education to await permanent preservation and exhibition at a future institution tentatively named the “April 16 Democratic Citizens’ Education Center.”

By Hong Yong-deok, south Gyeonggi correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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