On the 19th, President Park Geun-hye gave a nationally televised speech for 25 minutes addressing the problems revealed by the Sewol ferry accident and her plans to reform the nation.
The following English Yonhap article summarizes Park’s speech, during which she said:
- She was ultimately responsible for the disaster
- She would dismantle the Coast Guard
- She wept while reciting the names of individuals who died trying to save passengers on the ship
- She pledged to end the “bureaucratic mafia”, (the government-business collusion in safety agencies)
The full text of her speech in Korean can be found from here.
The following netizen comments are responses to articles focusing on the announcement that the Coast Guard would be disbanded.
Comments from Naver:
hcre****:
I sincerely support you. I want a clean Republic of Korea.
kaka****:
Dismantling the Coast Guard… That is a very strong move. It would’ve been better if she addressed the HR-related plans, too. I will keep an eye on that for a bit.
kang****:
Let’s acknowledge what she does right.. Stop bashing her blindly..
jung****:
It seem she has put out more concrete measures than any other former President would have?? If it were any of the former Presidents, he would’ve just made corny statements and been done with it.
pald****:
Let’s not just blindly criticize. Let’s revive the nation for the betterment of all. From now on, I hope we unite and move on to become a true developed country with no corruption or accidents.
succ****:
I hope President Park Geun-hye’s reforms will succeed.
chkk****:
All the parents in this country have already cried hundreds of times. I hope the tears you shed now result in revealing the truth and comforting the souls in the sea.
4966****:
The biggest problem is those human garbage who keep changing their words and divide the public. Our country is too divided. Look at Gyeongsang-do and Jeolla-do going at each other. ㅡㅡ Please, let’s unite and overcome trouble together at a time like this.
litt****:
Initially, the Coast Guard refused to reveal their communication log because they were afraid of the public resentment. But right before the local elections, they revealed the log and the government announced that the Coast Guard will be disbanded. I guess it was too much for the government to let the Coast Guard negatively affect the elections and they had to cut it out at the right time.
Comments from Daum:
시간을거슬러님:
So they are just changing the name to “National Safety Ministry”. What dismantling?
Winners님:
What about dismantling the Blue House?
hey님:
So the President herself won’t resign?
푸하하하님:
This is the best conclusion they could come up with? It’s not even funny.
상상초월님:
What kind of idiotic bullshit is this?
광활님:
What is this? Are they trying to hide evidence? No investigation has been properly done yet.
President Park weeps during her May 19th speech to the nation.
민들레꽃처럼님:
Even if they dismantle the Coast Guard, the same people will be put in the new organization. Cheap trickery. They are just changing the name. So incompetent.
페이퍼벌님:
Wow, they are really dismantling it.. Park Geun-hye is scary..
매직s님:
Oh, this move is quite strong, no?
현겨미님:
When I saw the silent protesters getting arrested over the weekend, I felt the government for the people has disappeared. You keep repeating the mistakes your father made. You are not the President in my heart.
