While the details of the cause are still mystery, it is thought that safety measures were overlooked with overloading and improperly secured cargo as the main causes. The ferry captain was charged guilty of homicide and sent to prison for life. Staff members, the rescue team and even the government were not efficient or showed enough care for the people on board. Some of the crew were drinking during the capsizing, the rescue team were dispatched too late, and the government was trying to downplay their liability in the disaster. This disaster had even contributed to the impeachment of President Park.

The song, A Thousand Winds, is a very well-known song in Korea and Japan. Originally released in Japan, the song became the biggest hit in 2007 and the first number one ranked song performed by a classical music singer, Masafumi Akikawa. The lyrics of the song come from the English poem “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep” and is most sung at funerals or places of mourning.

I wanted to share this song as the Korean version of this song was heavily used for the mourning of the Sewol incident. My favorite version of this is actually sung by nine and seven year old children. Oh Yeon Joon and Park Ye Eum sang this song in a TV program called WE KID. While the song doesn’t have the melancholiness or immense grief that older artists express, I thought it was just as moving. It provoked such a strange emotion to the listeners, hearing young voices mourning over loss and death.