South Korean PM resigns over government response to ferry disaster

[footballfina]

 

(Reuters) - South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won resigned on Sunday over the government's response to the April 16 ferry disaster.

 

The Sewol ferry sank on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the traditional holiday island of Jeju.

"Keeping my post too great a burden on the administration," a sombre Chung said in a brief announcement.

Chung was booed and someone threw a water bottle at him when he visited grieving parents the day after the disaster.

 

More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers from one high school on a field trip, have died or are missing and presumed dead. The children were told to stay put in their cabins, where they waited for further orders. The confirmed death toll on Sunday was 187.

 

Tempers have frayed over the slow pace of the recovery and frequent changes in information provided by the government, including at one time by a local government that everyone had been rescued.

 

(Reporting by Narae Kim; Writing by Nick Macfie)

[핵!]

Good.

[footballfina]

Let me be the first say:

 

[mochichan]

Doesn't seem like government handled the situation as well as they could, even with the late response time, and there's that mess with media misinformation. I heard they even turned away Japan who offered to help immediate and only now do they accept US helps too? If they did they're dumbasses

[ANTI-IKON]

The president should be next.

[kinjiki]

That shameful disgrace of a president should be next.

[kuroki]

oh wow i was getting excited and was hoping it was that old grandma

[gus]

their government is so fucked up

[Amaka~]

President step down.

 

How much longer does she have in office anyway??

[acclaim]

 

[ezgiT]

President step down.

 

How much longer does she have in office anyway??

 

its five year terms there i think and she got elected in 2013 so including this year, another four years left i think 

[timpa]

President step down.

 

How much longer does she have in office anyway??

4 years. Korea has a 1-term limit for President and it's a 5-year term. The last election was in late 2012 with the term starting the beginning of 2013.

 

With the Prime Minister now resigning if she did leave office the temporary President would become the Deputy Prime Minister who is minister of finance Hyun Oh-Seok. Who is more of a business person than a politician and I think this is his first politician position.

[BABOGIRL]

so he/she's running away instead of trying to fix the problem (which they didn't)

[denizen mars]

This is weird from a western perspective. A lot of people perceived the Katrina incident as a failure of the Bush administration and far more people died with that, but he sure didn't consider stepping down. I'm curious how close the PM is to having anything directly to do with government response /rescue efforts for this anyway.

 

 

so he/she's running away instead of trying to fix the problem (which they didn't)

 

how could he fix the problem any more at this point? Everyone is dead, the captain has already been charged with manslaughter, the families of the dead will sue the ferry company for damages. 

[Guitargeekette]

Run.

 

Instead of sticking it through and seeing what else you could do...run.

ugh

[HeirApparent]

This is weird from a western perspective. A lot of people perceived the Katrina incident as a failure of the Bush administration and far more people died with that, but he sure didn't consider stepping down. I'm curious how close the PM is to having anything directly to do with government response /rescue efforts for this anyway.

 

 

 

 

how could he fix the problem any more at this point? Everyone is dead, the captain has already been charged with manslaughter, the families of the dead will sue the ferry company for damages. 

 

 

there were so many protests for him to step down or be impeached but he refused to step down

[Substation]

It's just symbolic. Fundamentally, they need to take systematic measures to improve public safety and emergency standards.

[Legacy1223]

Not much that could have been done in those circumstances. The people trapped were dead before the ship even hit the bottom of the ocean. 

[bananabrows]

The president should be next.

 

[Substation]

The president should be next.

 

Why? Who's the alternative then?

[ANTI-IKON]

Why?  

Her incompetency warrants her resignation. 

[Substation]

Her incompetency warrants her resignation. 

 

Did she personally make any mistake? Would anything get better if she just resigns?

[ANTI-IKON]

Did she personally make any mistake? Would anything get better if she just resigns?

She leads the government and the government is at fault for delaying the rescue. 

 

No, but it will be some form of repercussion. What the government did and has been hiding is unforgivable. 

[Substation]

She leads the government and the government is at fault for delaying the rescue. 

 

No, but it will be some form of repercussion. What the government did and has been hiding is unforgivable. 

 

The nation will become even more chaotic if everyone resigns like that.

 

What exactly went wrong in the rescue operation?

 

What is the government hiding?

[ANTI-IKON]

The nation will become even more chaotic if everyone resigns like that.

 

What exactly went wrong in the rescue operation?

 

What is the government hiding?

Everyone? I only said the president. If I had to choose between the PM and the president, I would have rather the latter to resign. 

Everything went wrong.

Misinforming the public and manipulating the media shows that the govt is hiding something. An example is that the government told civilian divers to tell the media that the situation was a lot worse than it actually was.

You can check the sewol ferry incident thread or follow the news everyday to find full, detailed answers of what you are questioning me for. Im done with this interview.