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Missing student Heo Da-yoon’s desk

Personal items, desks, and chairs were relocated on Aug. 20 and 21 from a memorial classroom that had been used by students at Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, who lost their lives in sinking of the Sewol ferry.

along with tribute items in her memory

The temporary relocation, before the items are moved to a permanent memorial facility, to an annex of the Ansan Office of Education 1.3 km away came 858 days after the Apr. 2014 sinking. Victims’ family members were left in tears at having to give up the classroom where their children’s last days had been preserved.

are the only things left in the No. 2 second-year classroom at Ansan’s Danwon High after a memorial there was relocated on the afternoon of Aug. 20. (by Kim Myoung-jin

The two-day effort began at around 3 pm on Aug. 20, when personal effects were relocated from the teacher’s room and classrooms No. 1 to 10, along with 358 regular student desks, 363 chairs, 26 standing desks, 10 lecture desks, and 12 desks and 11 chairs from the teacher’s room. The following day, items such as blackboards, bulletin boards, televisions, and lockers were also moved.

staff photographer)

A total of 256 family members, volunteers, and members of the public helped to move boxes containing the victims’ personal effects. The items in question were for the individuals officially confirmed dead among the 262 victims from Danwon High, not including four students and two teachers who remain missing. In the case of victims who have yet to be found, items were left behind at the high school. While the desks and chairs used by the students were being moved, family members tearfully paid their last respects to the children in the classroom.

“Not only was it said that we would relocate once a memorial facility was set up in two to three years, but nothing has been achieved yet [in the investigation of the tragedy or raising of the Sewol],” said Park Rae-gun, a member of the 4/16 Network’s standing committee.

The mother of one Danwon High School student cries before packing her deceased child’s belongings at the memorial to the lost students

“It’s sad to think the government and educational authorities are dealing such a heavy blow to the last to family members who had wanted to preserve the classroom at least but are now giving it up for the remaining students,” Park said.

The memorial items and classroom relocated to the Ansan Office of Education are scheduled to be opened to the publish around mid-October after a 45-day re-creation effort.

By Hong Yong-deok, south Gyeonggi correspondent and Park Kyung-man, north Gyeonggi correspondent

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