Sewol mom ashamed she ever trusted President Park

President Park put her arm around the shoulders of Su-bin's mother who was overcome with sorrow to offer her some comfort.

In the emotion following the Sewol sinking, Pres. Park pledged more meetings with families and a thorough investigation

“Why did she have to grab me and put on such a convincing act? I feel ashamed of having believed everything she said. Why on earth did she do that?”

Park Sun-mee, 40, was brushing away the tears that were running from her eyes. “It‘s probably not going to happen, but if I had the chance to see President Park again, I would really want to ask her that,” she said.

Park is the mother of Lee Su-bin, 17, who was a second-year student in class no. 7 at Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. Su-bin was one of the 250 students from the school who lost their lives when the Sewol ferry sank earlier this year.

Since May 16, Park, has been one of the bereaved family members who are etched in the memories of Koreans.

One month after the Sewol tragedy, the bereaved family members were invited to visit the Blue House. After the meeting, as the family members sadly trooped out of the Blue House, President Park Geun-hye accompanied them to the entrance in a show of presidential warmth.

While the president was showing the family members out, she put her arm around the shoulders of one woman who was overcome with sorrow to offer her some comfort. The Blue House later shared a photo capturing the moment with the press.

The woman was Park, Su-bin’s mother.

At the time, Park trusted the president when she said that the family members could see her again at any time and that she would make sure that they were satisfied with the government’s investigation into the tragedy.

But now, around 200 days later, Park keenly regrets how she trusted the president that day, since she has learned just how futile that trust was.

When a Hankyoreh reporter met Park at the Hwarang Resort in Ansan - the site of the government memorial to the victims of the Sewol tragedy - on the morning of Dec. 23, the only feelings she seemed to have left for the president were disappointment, anger, and frustration.

Park vividly described what had happened during her encounter with the president.

“After the meeting was over, the president, who had been walking in front of us, suddenly turned around and grabbed my hand. Then she rested one hand on my shoulder and patted me consolingly. When I gratefully asked her to not let my child’s death be in vain, she told me not to worry,” Park recalled.

“During the meeting, the president made notes of each and every one of the complaints of the bereaved family members and said that she thought that the tragedy needed to be investigated. She also promised to meet us another time,” she said.

But that time never came.

“During the meeting, the president was so warm and caring. But since that day, I haven’t heard her say a single word about the children lost in the accident, and she never met us again. When I realized later that it was all an act, I beat my breast and wept,” Park said, trembling slightly.

Park’s son had been class president, and Park ended up serving as the representative of the families whose children had been second-year students in class no. 7.

“I want to ask the president if she remembers me. I want to ask if when she vowed to soothe the anguish of our children she really meant she was going to ignore us and pass a strange law that blocks a proper investigation of the tragedy,” she said, shedding tears of sadness.

On Dec. 22, Park visited Seoho Park in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, where the remains of her son Su-bin are kept.

“As I clutched the urn holding the ashes of my son, I prayed that his spirit would not leave this world and that he would stay to watch how the president and other politicians keep trying to ignore us,” Park said, struggling to keep her anger in check.

Recently, Park stepped down as representative for families of victims from class no. 7. “My anger and frustration about how politicians just hope that this will fade away with time is starting to express itself as a social phobia,” she explained.

　

“Even now, my husband opens the window in the middle of the night and yells out the name of our boy. He feels that we have completely failed to help the children find peace,” she said with a sob.

Park Sun-mee, mother of Lee Su-bin who was a second-year student in class no. 7 at Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.

　

By Kim Ki-sung, south Gyeonggi correspondent