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Prime Minister Chung Hong-won announces resignation amid criticism of government handling of the Sewol ferry disaster.
Last updated: 27 Apr 2014 01:15
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South Korea's prime minister has announced his resignation over the widespread criticism over the government's response to the April 16 ferry disaster.
Prime Minister Chung Hong-won announced his resignation early on Sunday at an emergency press conference in Seoul, the capital. The Sewol ferry sank on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the traditional holiday island of Jeju. More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers from one high school on a field trip, have died or are missing and presumed dead. The children were told to stay put in their cabins, where they waited for further orders. The confirmed death toll on Sunday was 187. Tempers have frayed over the slow pace of the recovery and frequent changes in information provided by the government. President Park Geun-hye, who has the most power in government, was booed by some of the relatives of the missing when she visited a gym where families of the missing were staying. |
Prime Minister Chung Hong-won offers to resign over ferry sinking
2014/04/27 10:15
SEOUL, April 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won offered his resignation Sunday, holding himself responsible for the government's poor response to the deadly sinking of a ferry that has left nearly 300 people dead or missing.
"The right thing for me to do is to take responsibility and resign," Chung told a press conference, 11 days after the accident that is one of the country's worst maritime disasters.
The 6,825-ton Sewol sank on April 16 on its way to the southern resort island of Jeju from Incheon, west of Seoul.
Over 180 people, most of them high school students who were on a field trip, have been confirmed dead so far, with more than 110 others still missing.
27 April 2014| last updated at 08:54AM
S. Korea Ferry Incident: South Korean PM to hold emergency press conference
SEOUL: South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won is to hold an emergency press conference at 10:00 a.m. (0100 GMT), his office said, when he is expected to address widespread criticism over the government's response to the April 16 ferry disaster.
The Sewol ferry sank on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the traditional holiday island of Jeju.
More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers from one high school on a field trip, have died or are missing and presumed dead.
The children were told to stay put in their cabins, where they waited for further orders. The confirmed death toll on Sunday was 187.
Tempers have frayed over the slow pace of the recovery and frequent changes in information provided by the government.
President Park Geun-hye, who has the most power in government, was booed by some of the relatives of the missing when she visited a gym where families of the missing were staying. --REUTERS
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