S. Korea ferry sinking survivors return to class

More than 70 teenagers who survived a ferry sinking that killed hundreds of their schoolmates returned on Wednesday to their first classes since the April disaster.

Some of the students, wearing white and black uniforms and carrying book bags, bowed their heads as they cried and walked slowly from a bus to the school entrance. Some stopped to hug the parents of their friends. Adults carried banners of encouragement. One read: "We pray the dead will rest in peace." Another simply said: "I love you."

The anger, grief and deep remorse at Danwon High School in Ansan, outside of Seoul, was a reflection of what many South Koreans have felt since the April 16 sinking, which left more than 300 people dead or missing. Most of the dead were students from Danwon who were on a class trip to the southern holiday island of Jeju.

The return to classes of the survivors comes amid court hearings for the ferry's crew and the officials from the company that owned it. Many South Koreans also fault the government, the coast guard and even society for failing the victims.

"We ask for a thorough investigation to find out why our friends and teachers had to become victims and why the rescue efforts didn't proceed properly and led to more victims," one of the surviving students, Shin Young-jin, said in an emotional address. "We hope that you will try to create a safer nation so that such a horrible accident never happens again."

After decades of negligence, many South Koreans are now questioning the country's history of ignoring safety issues as it pursued rapid economic development above all else following the devastation of the Korean War, which began 64 years ago Wednesday with a North Korean invasion.

The government of President Park Geun-hye, whose dictator father ruled during the economic boom in the 1960s and 1970s that was dubbed the "Miracle on the Han," after the river that cuts through Seoul, has been battered by criticism that it should have done more before the sinking on safety and monitoring issues and that its incompetence botched the rescue operations.

The 15 crew members responsible for navigating the Sewol ferry face charges of negligence and of failing to perform their duties to rescue passengers. Prosecutors say they abandoned the ship even though they knew passengers would be trapped and killed when the ferry sank. The defense has denied any collusion, saying the crew members were confused, injured and panicked.

The Associated Press