Title: A lesson learned from the ferry Sewol sinking in South Korea in 2014

Authors: Kyoo-Man Ha

Addresses: Department of Public Policy & Management, Pusan National University, 2, Busandaehak-ro 63beon-gil, Geumjeong-gu, Busan, 46241, South Korea

Abstract: Owing to the superficial disaster response, so many passengers of the ferry Sewol drowned to death around the Jindo area in South Korea. The aim of this paper was to raise the significance of establishing a national disaster response framework by analysing the actions of the five major stakeholders in the recent tragedy: 1) the national and local governments; 2) the ferry captain and crew; 3) the mass media; 4) the rescuers; 5) the victims and their families. As a key tenet, the author maintains that Korea has to set up an in-depth response framework, just as advanced nations have, so as not to repeat such tragic circumstances should another disaster occur.

Keywords: ferry sinking; disaster management; manmade emergency; governments; disaster response framework.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEM.2017.085002

International Journal of Emergency Management, 2017 Vol.13 No.3, pp.210 - 215

Received: 23 Nov 2015
Accepted: 25 Jan 2016
Published online: 10 Jul 2017 *

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