Moments of great tragedy often elicit national soul-searching. So it is with last week’s South Korean ferry disaster, which has triggered an outpouring of not only grief and anger, but also of something close to self-loathing. “This was a stereotypical man-made disaster resulting from Korean society’s indifference to safety,” thundered one editorial, which went on to ask contemptuously: “What kind of country is this?” Another opined: “Unless we change South Korean society, there’s no way of knowing what other kind of tragedy will come our way.”
In their efforts to understand what caused an accident that may end up claiming more than 300 lives – many of them teenage students – Koreans have cast their net wide. Those who have come under most scrutiny include the ferry’s captain, who allegedly abandoned ship, and the government which, like its Malaysian counterpart after last month’s aircraft disappearance, was slow to respond and sent out conflicting messages about the rescue operation.
Yet beyond the immediate culprits, Koreans have delved deeper to ask questions about their own society. From the outside, South Korea looks incredibly successful as it closes in on western living standards. But from the perspective of many of its people, their society can seem severely flawed – unequal, caught up in an educational rat race and with a high tendency to suicide. Among the ultimate causes of the ferry disaster, some have identified an economic model that prizes growth, profits and the prestige of Korea Inc above the welfare of its citizens. Others, in a narrative seized on by many foreign commentators, have even blamed Korean culture itself, particularly the adherence to hierarchy that allegedly caused students to obey fatal instructions to stay below decks.