J-Suny Lee mother Yeseul Park who was killed on the Sewol, the South Korean ferry that capsized while carrying 476 people, mostly secondary school students. (JASON KRYK/The Windsor Star)
Chris Thompson
Mar 22, 2015 – 11:16 PM EDT
Last Updated: Mar 23, 2015 – 7:40 AM EDT
Jisung Lee and Jongbeom Park don’t know much about Canada, but they want the country’s help in getting to the bottom of the ferry sinking that claimed their children.
The two South Koreans are on a speaking tour in Canada seeking to expose what they believe is a coverup by their own government surrounding the sinking of the ferry Sewol last April.
“The government doesn’t try to give us the answers to find the truth, so that’s why we’re doing this,” said Lee, who lost her daughter Doeun Kim, 17, who aspired to become a teacher. She spoke through an interpreter.
J-Suny Lee, left and Jongbum Park, parents of two students killed on the Sewol, the South Korean ferry that capsized while carrying 476 people, mostly secondary school students. The two were in Tecumseh, Ontario Sunday during their cross-Canada tour. (JASON KRYK/The Windsor Star)
Lee and Park spoke at the Korean United Church in Tecumseh on Sunday to about 50 people.
Park, whose daughter Yeseul, 17, was an aspiring fashion designer, wants Canadian media to get the answers to questions that he believes are being covered up in his homeland.
“We don’t trust South Korean mass media to tell the truth so we want to ask Canadian mass media to tell the truth,” said Park.
“Because South Korean mass media is controlled by the government, they can’t tell the truth, but Canadian mass media is not affected by the South Korean government, so that is why we are asking the Canadian media to uncover the truth about this accident.”
Attendees, hold hands at an information session regarding Sewol, the South Korean ferry that capsized while carrying 476 people. (JASON KRYK/The Windsor Star)
The ferry sank on April 16, 2014 with 475 people aboard, many of them high school students.
It is believed 304 people did not survive, but there has been no effort to raise the ferry or find the bodies still on board.
“The government doesn’t want to tell us why,” said Lee.
The passengers included 325 students and 15 teachers from Danwon High School in Ansan, a city near Seoul. They had been headed to Jeju, a tourist island, for a four-day trip, relief workers said.
J-Suny Lee, the mother of Yeseul Park, who died on the ferry that capsized in South Korea carrying 476 people. (JASON KRYK/The Windsor Star)
Lee said that parents have been able to uncover information that points to a government conspiracy, but they are not prepared to release the information.
“It’s not clear yet that the Sewol ferry is owned by the government,” said Lee. “Not only me but all other parents want to know the truth if there is any connection between the government and the Sewol ferry. “
The captain of the ferry was arrested and charged with negligence and abandoning people in need.
Lee and Park have spoken in Toronto and will continue on to Vancouver.
Yellow butterfly pins were sold at the gathering and there was also a petition calling on the South Korean government to be more transparent on the issue.
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