The National Maritime Police Agency has decided to remove the head of the Incheon Maritime Police from his position and refer him to its disciplinary committee for his responsibility in the "leisure boat" accident that occurred May 15. There is an ongoing internal investigation but the maritime police say they are taking this action now out of consideration for public opinion angry over what happened. That is action that should be taken in response to the time it took to report the incident and the dillydallying that went on before they arrived to the scene, but it should not be allowed to put the incident behind without being adequately dealt with first.
To begin with there must be full disclosure of the exact truth as to the late response that led to the deaths of seven people. The families of the deceased say they checked with the police at Jeon'gok between 6:30 and 7p.m. as to whether the boat had arrived in harbor, and that the police, without checking, said the boat had returned at 5p.m. At 7:35 they asked the police to confirm the whereabouts of family members on the boat, but that it was two hours later, at 9:24, when the office at Jeon'gok reported to Incheon headquarters that they were missing. It was only at 9:55 when the police sent a patrol boat out of Daebu, and it arrived at the scene three hours five minutes after the accident had occurred, normally a distance of 15 to 20 minutes away. The patrol boat was an inflatable one, and therefore would have had little problem transversing netted fish-farming areas. It is easy to see that there were holes in the system. Everything must be disclosed so that the police discipline can be firmly established.
There needs to be a full re-vamping of the country's sea rescue system, and, more than anything else, and an establishment of volunteering and responsibility awareness. The people who waited 14 hours to find that their loved ones had died cried out that more would have lived had the rescue been quicker. Civil servants responsible for protecting the lives and property of the people need to reflect on their desperate screams.
The Hankyoreh, 22 May 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] 3 Hours for a Distance of 20 Minutes |
