April 16th, 2014. Are we really going to die? 476 out at sea. Mom I love you. Dad I love you. Love you both. This is like Titantic. 172 return with a pulse. Hahaha. Should I call my Mom. This is fun. Stay where you are. Ladies and gentlemen please double check to make sure your life jackets are tied securely. 325 high schoolers from Danwon High School laugh in cramped bunk beds. I should say Mom this might be the last words from me. I’m so scared. I’m so scared. Save us. Stay where you are. 250 lay at the bottom of the Yellow Sea. Dad I'll be back. This is going to be on the news. Not unless it sinks. It’s sinking now. I’m tired. Help. Help. They’re jumping into the sea. I want to see my Mom. Now he's in the sea. Don’t worry we’re gonna live. I’ll see you then.
At 5:30 PM on April 15th, 2014, a low visibility warning is issued by the Incheon vessel travel service (VTS).
Despite initially holding her departure, the Shipping Association eventually removes the restriction, and the MV Sewol sets out for the Yellow Sea at 9 PM, around three hours behind schedule.
She is the only ship to leave port that evening.
Of her 476 passengers (443 passengers and 33 crew members), 325 are high schoolers on a field trip to Jeju-do – juniors from Danwon High School experiencing a last bit of fun before their grueling final year of secondary school. As the ferry lilts, the crew tells them to put on life jackets and stay put, lest they aggravate the situation with their movement. Few passengers question the order, and the ones who do brave the cold waters and are rescued. Children sit, awaiting death, while the crew members abandon ship. Some drink beer as they wait for help to come. Don’t move, they say, as they jump overboard. Twenty-two of the twenty-nine crew survive. The first to be rescued is Captain Lee Joon-seok.
Only three stay aboard and help the passengers:
All three go down with the vessel.
AFTERMATH
Sewol took two and a half hours to sink. What followed was not only a tragedy but deemed a national crisis. Beyond the Coast Guard Command's failure to follow protocol, fifteen members of the crew were put on trial, some accused of negligence and manslaughter. Additionally, citizens put South Korea's government and media under fire, as much of the announcements made during the aftermath were inconsistent and inaccurate. Initial reports of survivors were heavily bloated, and the Blue House's control tower, which should've played a role during the national crisis, only activated once public opinion worsened. The government's reacted to criticism by worsening the situation in attempts to cover up their complicity, also preventing further research and action that could help improve future disaster response capabilities. Park Geun-hye, then-president, was reportedly in her bedroom getting her hair done during crucial early hours of the rescue operation, and was revealed to have issued a document containing a secret blacklist of artists who'd commemerated the Sewol victims in their art.
"Spring Day" by BTS. Containing numerous references to the Sewol Ferry Disaster -- including many pops of yellow -- it is often interpreted as a tribute to the lives lost. In the past, they have criticized the government and talk openly about subjects usually contentious within South Korean popular culture.
Every year, people continue to memorialize this event. On April 16th, the internet is filled with pictures of yellow ribbons in remembrance of the tragedy, a tradition that began when South Koreans took part in a yellow ribbon campaign shortly after the sinking. It became widespread in Korea after an earlier post made by a netizen on KakaoTalk encouraging others to use the symbol online.
The caption: "One small movement, one big miracle."
ORIGINS
Yellow ribbons were first used in Western countries (such as the U.S., Canada, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark) and represented hopes of one's safe return, typically regarding military troops. Allegedly, it originates from a Puritan song, as during the English Civil War the Puritan Army of English Parliament wore yellow ribbons and sashes on the battlefield. Around four centuries old, the song/poem "She wore a yellow ribbon" is about a woman under some sort of test, waiting for her beloved's return.
After it was brought to America -- presumably by English settlers -- it became a popular marching song. George A. Norton's version, "Round Her Neck She Wears A Yeller Ribbon" (For Her Lover Who Is Far, Far Away), speaks of a soldier and his lover who waits back home for him.
'Round her neck she wears a yeller ribbon,
She wears it in winter and the summer so they say,
If you ask her "Why the decoration?"
She'll say "It's for my lover who is far, far away.
"Come back safely," the yellow ribbon meant. And such is what it was used for for a long time, garnering numerous adaptations into various stories and songs. But as it made its way around the globe, its meaning began to take different forms, adjusting to whichever region it landed in.
PHILIPPINES
In the Philippines, the ribbon was first used in support of opposition leader Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., rising to popularity while the Martial law (where the country is placed under military control) was in place. It was initially inspired by the song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree," which narrates the story of an ex-convict returning home, uncertain whether he'll be welcomed by his lover. In this song, he asks her to tie a yellow ribbon around an oak tree in their frontyard if she wants him to return.
SENATOR BENIGNO AQUINO JR.
TIE A YELLOW RIBBON ROUND THE OLE OAK TREE
The Philippines related this to Aquino's return, as his previous criticism of then-president Ferdinand Marcos regime resulted in an extended period of exile and incarceration. His supporters, mimicking the song, decorated Metro Manila with yellow ribbons in celebration of his homecoming, but Aquino never saw it, as he was assassinated during his disembarking from his flight. This moment was what led to the People Power Revolution of 1986, during which Marcos was overthrown. Thus, yellow became associated with the anti-Marcos movement and consequently Aquino's widow, Corazón Aquino, who became the new president.
SOUTH KOREA
South Korea, inspired by the Philippines' use of the yellow ribbon as both something to welcome home and democratize, decided to similarly adapt the symbol in the aftermath of the Sewol Ferry capsizing. As the state and location of many passengers were still uncertain in the months following, it embodied the nation's wish for their safe return. But once it became clear that this was impossible, and the government came into question, it, just as in the Philippines, became a tool of defiance. Through this transformation, the yellow ribbon, previously apolitical, became political and highly contentious, and to this day, "define spaces of protest and...project a personal identity of political resistance" (Kim, 2017 apjjf).
Reflection Reflection
While I don’t necessarily think my understanding of worldbuilding has changed much, I’ve become more interested in cycles; the continuity or back-and-forth of time. We know that the past informs the present, and the present the future -- but, also, the present informs the past, as does the future to now. I find this fascinating. It doesn't matter where on the timeline you are: you can always learn from time. I think following this string of thought, I stumble upon the idea of space (revolutionary ones/the physical earth in Soy Cuba, absent ones in Carrie Mae Weems's work, Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower). I vaguely remember one of Professor Alexander's lectures in which he mentioned colonies on Mars...how inhabiting a new space is inherently colonization. In line with much of what is happening in the current day, I'm interested in how colonization manifests itself in the environment. How you can sense the rot in the air. How invasion is felt by Mother Earth. Of course, these are more abstract statements -- but I'd like to hone in on a specific area and speak to not the people's colonization, but that of the land. As for which area I'd like to focus on, I am not yet sure -- perhaps Korea, perhaps my own backyard -- but this is one idea I have for my research path come spring.
sources
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