South Korean President Park Geun-hye blamed egregious failures of the country's Coast Guard for the Sewol ferry tragedy, which claimed the lives of hundreds of schoolchildren. The President followed through on her plan to shut down the Coast Guard, and its replacement becomes operational this week.
President Park Geun-hye had vowed to shut down the South Korean Coast Guard almost immediately following the Sewol disaster. Only 172 of the vessel's 476 passengers were rescued. Worse than that; the vessel's sinking was deemed avoidable in the first place, with "excessive cargo and improper storage" cited as the cause.
Reuters says fifteen Sewol crew members who escaped death at sea are now facing charges "ranging from homicide to negligence."
As of this week South Korea's new National Safety Agency of about 10,000 will run search, rescue, water-based firefighting, and coastal law enforcement duties according to Reuters via Business Insider. Nobody's mentioned whether any of those 10,000 are former Coast Guard employees.
Images via AP