'Will thoroughly investigate mockery, insults targeting victims, bereaved families'

'Please, survivors, live an ordinary life'

President Lee Jae Myung takes his seat after a national salute at a Cabinet meeting and emergency economic review session held at Cheong Wa Dae on Monday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung takes his seat after a national salute at a Cabinet meeting and emergency economic review session held at Cheong Wa Dae on Monday. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday he was "deeply sorry" over the death of a Sewol ferry disaster survivor who had suffered severe trauma, expressing remorse on behalf of the nation for leaving the person "stuck in April 16, 2014, for 12 years."

Lee made the remarks in a Facebook post that day, describing his feelings as "devastating and anguished."

"I can barely begin to imagine what each of those 12 years must have felt like, day by day," Lee said, offering condolences to the deceased.

"Going to university, getting a job, falling in love — how much effort must it have taken just to live the ordinary life that comes so naturally to everyone else," he said. "I believe that even on days when your heart was falling apart, you tried hard to seem fine so as not to worry your family and those close to you. Even after a day spent smiling, the walk home may have felt very heavy."

Lee also said that while time is often said to heal all wounds, "wounds do not heal on their own." "A society that suppresses its pain without adequate mourning will ultimately develop problems," he said. "The longer emotional wounds are left unattended, the deeper and more severe they become."

Lee pledged to "explore every possible measure within the government's reach," and said he would "listen more carefully to the voices of disaster survivors and bereaved families, and fulfill the state's responsibilities that have so far fallen short."

He also said the government "will thoroughly investigate and sternly respond to acts of mockery and insult directed at Sewol victims and their bereaved families," adding that "tearing open others' wounds and pouring salt on them, without even the capacity for empathy — this must not happen anymore."

Lee then said he hoped survivors would be able to live out their daily lives.

"Finally, I sincerely ask this of the survivors," Lee said. "Please do not burden yourselves with the feeling that you must live a special or extraordinary life in place of those who left before you. Please live an entirely ordinary life — one that is sometimes even boringly uneventful. Let go of the guilt, and cherish the small, everyday happiness with those you love."

Lee closed by offering his condolences, saying he prayed for the repose of the deceased.


moone@heraldcorp.com