The MV Sewol Sinking Tragedy 2014 | A Brief History of Documentary

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Would you like to see more Maritime Disaster? Suggestions below!

[@eliotheasman5378]

Yes please

[@SK22000]

That would be awesome

[@q3st1on19]

Definitely would like to see some more maritime disasters e.g Costa Concordia, Le Joola, any of the many ferry disaster

[@CantHandleThisCanYa]

Exxon Valdez? _THE TITANIC!?!?_ There are so many maritime disasters 😍

[@RailPreserver2K]

Oceanos, a friend of mine is one of a youngest historians regarding the ship and its sinking. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmKviGujf6qIrNE

[@ADRIAAN1007]

The fact that many of the students texted their parents and were told by them to stay put and follow the instructions from the crew believing that the crew were capable and able to keep their children safe is heartbreaking. They did exactly as they were told trusting in the crew to do their job.

[@thc2754]

NOT to fault any one that lost there lives. One contributing factor was that people are brought into a false belief that the authoritarian government will protect you into a falls security. The saddest part is the pore children sat in there rooms blindly fallowing officials.

[@vincent67239]

@@thc2754 South Korea does not have an authoritarian government; what the fuck are you on about. That said, the gross negligence by all of those responsible, as well as the stupid politics of that government official or whatever are all disgusting. Absolutely infuriating that every single goddamned person in the chain fucked up.

[@DemocracyOfficer2485]

@@vincent67239 he was saying that they believed in the authority figures that their government approved to run the ship. It’s pretty easy to see what he was saying. It boils down to teach yourself and your kids to look out for yourselves instead of depending on someone else to keep you safe. Which is literally what happened here. Don’t know why you got all pissy about it.

[@zthecat]

@@DemocracyOfficer2485 Authoritarianism is a kind of government system, and not one that South Korea has. When someone uses the term "authoritarian government" they're not just referencing the authority figures in any government.

[@Tridd666]

bug people gonna bug

[@fluffyfour]

There was another victim of this disaster. One of the divers, who went down repeatedly, time and time again, to retrieve bodies and possessions, was so affected by what he saw and the evidence he presented at the trial, that he committed suicide. So so sad.

[@HerculesMays]

I can't imagine how terrible it must have been for that diver, going into those cabins and seeing tragedy after tragedy like he did...RIP to him.

[@rybuds47]

There was a diver named Kim that wouldn't tow the party line on the story and they Epstined him.

[@sheijuna]

@@rybuds47 what goes epstined mean

[@antonischatz.2133]

@@sheijuna They silenced him by killing him.

[@zazu3006]

@@sheijuna like jeffrey Epstein was silenced

[@kk7sm]

I was living in Seoul when this happened. It's still a pretty emotional thing for me. The people were outraged and as the bodies continued to be recovered, the outrage grew. So many parents, all from one small area, who lost their children. It was very difficult to fathom at the time how this happened, the ship capsized in fairly shallow water and had the order to abandon ship been given, it would have saved so many lives, nobody could understand why it was never given. When it came out that the crew had abandoned the vessel and left the passengers to die, you could have cut the anger with a knife. Thanks for shedding some light on this tragedy that I still cannot fully comprehend.

[@dancingcarapace]

I can’t imagine how much pain and trauma the surviving students went through and still go through today. Even 8 years later, this isn’t the kind of thing you just recover from. These kids lost their friends. More than half the students died. I doubt that school ever truly recovered from such a loss

[@mariusvanc]

I was visiting around the same time, and there were regular protests and vigils all over the city. Riot police were being brought in by dozens of busses to the otherwise totally peaceful assemblies.

[@ianmacfarlane1241]

@@dancingcarapace 250 students dying is horrifying anyway, but from one school - it's almost unimaginable.

[@BeeWhistler]

I felt sick just listening to it. The crew got justice, I think, considering the loss their actions led to.

[@Bynj3]

I haven't seen the whole episode yet. I hope by justice you mean tied to anchors and dropped next to the ship they left.

[@Votrae]

More than double the authorized load.. that's insane. And I had no idea an errant turn of just 10°could do that. Ship must've had the balance of an inverted bowling pin. RIP

[@PlainlyDifficult]

It is pretty shocking!

[@johnladuke6475]

You wouldn't expect it from most ships, but like you say the balance is a big problem. Imagine trying to take a little jog wearing a hat that's half your body weight. One missed step and you'd go over too.

[@franciskolarik6802]

how the center of gravity works in a ship: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGTFZXarpNlneZY you can watch more to see one way these things can go wrong. edit: even better: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6qop2d_qMx5pZY

[@LadyEzri]

I was working at a Korean middle school in Incheon when this happened. My mother called me in a panic because international news was reporting it before Korean news really was and she was worried I might have been on the ship as I was planning a ferry trip to Jeju. It is hard to put into words how much this devastated the country with memorials everywhere and was just another failure of safety in a long time. The students were told to stay so they did what they had been taught for years to do, sit and follow the instructions of your elders. I remember telling my middle school students, if you don't feel safe, leave. Don't listen, leave, but even as the water filled the rooms because that announcement said stay put, they did until there was no chance they could leave. Safety still seems to be a low priority when it comes to progress in Korea, hopefully it can one day change.

[@Hey_MikeZeroEcho22P]

'LadyEzri' .... sorry to hear the pain You must have had about this incident. I also was a high-school teacher for awhile, and Even though we "teach" our students to 'follow the instructions', it must be followed to the Letter, in Asian countries, while here in the US....'meh'.

[@potatomongrel]

@Game Plays 1230 God is not real. Isn't it kind of fucked up to assume what your God likes without the thing telling you themselves? This video is about South Korea. Get your head out of your upside down cult book and pay attention.

[@havz0r]

@Game Plays 1230 this is about South Korea

[@ok0_0]

@@potatomongrel God is real

[@rasyd85]

Korean didnt learn from mistakes as it happen again at itaewon

[@cekojuna6930]

The unsung heroes are probably three of the 11 crew members that died. According to some testimonies those specific crew members stayed behind to help the students and passengers escape and they tried to save as many as they can before they died. The death toll would’ve been more if not for them. These are their names. Park Ji-young Jeong Hyun-seon Kim Ki-woong

[@keinlieb3818]

The crew and company owners should get the same fate. Death by hours to days trapped inside a boat.

[@staylovingyedam3613]

What happened really infuriated me. Those kids were taught to listen to their elders and when they did, when they needed guidance the most, they were abandoned. That’s why I appreciate All Of Us Are Dead so much, and you, for shedding light to one of, is not, the most preventable tragedy I’ve ever heard of.

[@edork01]

In most cultures children are taught to always listen and pay respect to the elders. I say fuck that. Not all, but most are just straight up assholes who think too highly of themselves just because they are old. This shit needs to be stop. Respect is earned.

[@bradsanders407]

Then why didn't they listen when they were told to abandon ship at 9:31?

[@jenniferm704]

@@bradsanders407 The video did mention that not everyone heard the order. I wonder if at that time part of the announcement system was malfunctioning.

[@karawigley6231]

@@bradsanders407 Imagine being this type of person in life, sad.

[@freeman2399]

Never trust the state with your life. These people were sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

[@ExperiencePlayers]

What a coincidence, just yesterday a friend told me about it and we watched the "official" documentary about it. Respect to the koreans for fighting together for consequences

[@GloriosoMD]

What is the documentary?

[@Nate112780]

@@GloriosoMD You might look at "In the Absence." It is a Oscar nominated short film about this event.

[@resevoirdog]

I don't know about "official" but I'm sure it's a good one and probably the most popular one. Rarely do companies or people make their own documentories. But I know what you meant I just wanted to clear that part up. This story is so sad though I felt for those young Koreans in the videos joking about school things and dying in the boat (but not in a serious way). Never thinking for a moment they would possibly parish. It kills me so much watching those videos from below deck. Those kids were just like you and me at that age. I highly recommend watching

[@EnergyTRE]

cant give someone props for cleaning up a mess they made friend.

[@micklefox]

“After the Sewol” is a documentary by British-born Neil George, who was a professor at the Dong-ah Institute of Media and Arts at the time of the disaster. I had the pleasure of working with him and his students on some film projects in the summer of 2014 after the Sewol went down that spring. Neil was incredibly passionate about the S. Korean people and was committed to bringing the nuances of the story surrounding this tragedy to light. … Being in S. Korea during the height of the country’s mourning is an experience that I will not soon forget. While on tour, we paid respects at Dowan High School where they had a massive memorial dedicated to all the students who had perished in the accident… and I’ve not heard human wailing as haunting as that in my life.

[@David-uk3nv]

"It seems that in South Korea, you actually go to prison if you're found to break the rules . . . which is seemingly rare in other countries." The key quote of this video IMO.

[@neuralmute]

It seems that the rest of the world could learn a thing or three from them in that respect.

[@royriley6282]

He's starting to SEE

[@vincent67239]

How in the hell did they manage that? The big corporations have bought off my government.

[@RandOm-hr5jn]

This event involved a lot of dead children and a lot of angry parents, both of whom placed all of their trust in the crew that was too busy hauling ass. I think if there wasn't someone going to prison, there would've been more corpses. Something this horrible would drive every nation mad.

[@vincent67239]

@@RandOm-hr5jn I feel like, in the U.S., the most severe punishment would be a slap on the wrist. Like a small fine or a couple of months in jail. And getting a conviction would be almost impossible, too. Even if there were a lot of dead children and angry parents.

[@herdinantyo]

This case never fail to piss me off.

[@TheRedRaven_]

Same, I watched a documentary on this months ago and was in a state of shock watching it unfold. I can’t even imagine how the parents felt.

[@arnaudt3935]

@@TheRedRaven_ Judging by what happened to the former CIO member...we can imagine

[@royriley6282]

In 99% of the disasters covered on this channel, the sociopathic perpetrators suffer zero consequence and often continue living lives of privilege and wealth. Finally the guilty are made to see justice and this is the one that pisses you off? Contrast this event to that coal waste landslide in Britain which also killed a ton of school children. That's gotta piss you off more considering they not only escaped justice but haggled down the amount of damages to mere shillings. And the later is the norm.

[@vincent67239]

@@royriley6282 Okay, how about this: “This case never fail[s] to piss me off. The other cases on this channel never fail to piss me off, either, but this one never fails to piss me off, too.”

[@anaqibinish859]

Ikr

[@kimpatz2189]

The first time i saw the Sewol still afloat and listing on a video, I was happy. The old girl held on giving ample time for "anyone" to pack up and leave her. Yet there's no one outside the ship. No one deployed the rafts. No one seems to be struggling. A roro or ropax class ship is the most likely ship to list hence this ship type are not tall. Most roro ships can survive severe listing if their ramp seals are excellent. Most of them have very high freeboard. The case is different on a ropax. Most of them have windows lower then the others. And the Sewol has many. Yet the ship held on! It didn't tumble as fast. Meaning the waters havent entered the main car deck but on small openings. The stay put command is haunting on this disaster. And the severe negligence on the crew on not leading or not even starting the evacuation operation as soon as the list is unrecoverable is pure un-seamanship. The ship was an unsung hero here. Giving its pax and crew ample time to evacuate even if she was overloaded and have improperly tied cargo. She slowly gave signal to everyone that she is going down. Yet the crew has no initiative. They didnt understand the situation. Eventually, she succumbed to the waters and dragged anyone aboard.

[@LeCharles07]

I have to agree. When the video said it was listing at 50 degrees I did some quick math in my head an determined that is an insane amount of heel and it's honestly amazing the ship didn't roll a lot faster.

[@fernandomarques5166]

My dad is a 30 year veteran of the navy, he was so pissed when we heard the death toll, because the ferry gave ample time to abandond ship before she finally rolled over. He heavily criticized the crew for abandoning ship early and the coast guard for just standing there and refusing to go into the ship, as he was involved in many SAR ops including capsizings like this. He always said in the navy the priorities we're "fight, manouver and float", a merchant vessel would just have to keep the "manouver and float part, and if these 3 things can't be maintained you must find your way topside, always.

[@Usernamesdonotmatter]

@crassgop I heard that he called about rescue. I wonder if he learned there wasn't enough rescue ships close by. Prioritizing himself basically.

[@nthgth]

@crassgop 12:08 "Evacuation was ordered at 9:30am." _Apparently_ not everyone heard it... Weird. Dubious. But he said the order _was_ given.

[@TerrinX]

If you ever cover Korean disasters again, I would be more than happy to help with pronunciations, cultural ideology, and anything else

[@thehaprust6312]

Salang Tunnel fire is even worse.

[@jaymzx0]

> being covered like this for Western audiences I think is a great service. Indeed. This is probably the first time I've heard about this tragedy. May all of those poor souls rest in peace.

[@Tcw7468]

There's also the Daegu Subway Fire, which despite being a different type of disaster was often compared to this one due to the incompetence of the crew.

[@TerrinX]

@@Tcw7468 Oh wow, I'll have to look into it. Thank you for the info

[@TerrinX]

​@@jaymzx0 Yeah, I never realized how incredibly little we know about Eastern history/culture/anything really until I started learning Korean. The Ferry Disaster had a MAJOR impact on Korean society, the President at the time Park Geun-hye had been secretly blacklisting artists who spoke out about the incident and the victims to censor the tragedy, and still many major artists risked their careers to do it commemorate the tragedy anyway like with RedVelvet's "One of These Nights", (f)x's "Red Light", and BTS's "Spring Day". Some even went as far as to mock her corrupt government directly such as BTS's "Am I Wrong" which added to the snowball of protests leading up to President Park's resignation and arrest. *TL;DR - This was a big turning point and massive political/cultural shift in South Korea in 2014 - 2017* Ironically President Park Geun-hye was the daughter of President Park Chung-hee who arrested citizens for similar censorship in the 70s, including the Korean GodFather of Rock Shin Jung-hyeon for not writing propaganda music for him. Shin Jung-Hyeon's son started multiple heavy metal bands in the 80s, one of which included Seo Taiji, who started a hip-hop group called Seo-Taiji and the Boys in 1991 which is known to be the first Kpop group. Thus leading to Kpop's establishment in Korea, and eventually BTS, "Am I Wrong" which fueled the political tension leading to President Park Geun-hye leaving office and getting arrested for blacklisting, and outing other corrupt members of the government. Like father like daughter in this tragic situation. __A neat little story of its own__ There's a lot I left out for sake of brevity but yeah. There's just a lot going on, especially in the East we're simply not aware of, but doesn't matter any less.

[@Eiuol81853]

As an American, the most interesting part to me is that a) that the captain got a life sentence and b) the CEO went to prison. I cannot fathom that level of accountability being carried out in my country even if a tragedy happened with this level of gross negligence and greed.

[@ACDBunnie]

From US too, literally same

[@lizc6393]

Tragically, as another American, I absolutely understand and agree.

[@e.v.8949]

Same. I wish we took these kinds of injustices seriously. We too often protect organizations and ignore actual victims. If DuPont was handled like this ASAP? I can't imagine how much cleaner the world would be from PFAS.

[@LightAIIoy]

An update, the captain of the boat actually killed himself not long after the sentence. "apparently" he couldn't bare the consequences of letting so many students die, but honestly I call BS.

[@e.v.8949]

@@LightAIIoy are you sure it was the captain? I thought it was the company owner. Maybe we're thinking of different shipwrecks? I gotta go double check this.

[@q3st1on19]

Even worse is that it was known that the ship could turn at most 5 degrees at speed. Those on the bridge knew they couldn't safely make the turns that they did. The whole thing just makes me mad

[@azab6539]

It’s heartbreaking that the first contact with rescue authorities was a scared teenager with a cellphone. I’ll never forget the video I saw of a girl crying while they were told to stay put, and her classmates making fun of her and laughing for being a coward. They really believed these negligent, greedy, corrupt adults were going to do right by them. I’m glad to see they went to prison. Shameful.

[@CHPMP5]

As a Korean-American, there is so much pain, tragedy, and negligence surrounding this event. A lot of civilian divers were involved in the recovery as the military/Navy didn't have the good quality gear or experience; one Navy diver sadly died in fact due to the poor quality of equipment they had. A lot of those recovery divers still struggle with PTS and some have committed suicide since this event. The fact that many of divers knew exactly how risky the situation was, but still felt determined to go in anyways, is proof that humanity still shined on that day. There were numerous stories from the divers and others, about finding boys and girls who had tied themselves together. Friends, couples, kids, all knowing that the end was coming, but chose to stick together to face that journey beyond. Even while most of the crew acted in an inhumane, callous, negligent manner, some of the youngest members of the crew (a young couple due to be married) were posthumously recognized as heroes, for deciding to warn and help passengers below deck when they could have fled to safety. So I think about Mr. Rogers and his quote about scary times. "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."

[@fakeulove9440]

And the Korean government refused outside help from those better qualified to assist. Sk literally is the us allies and there are us bases on sk. They also turned away private citizens initially who were willing to make a sacrifice of their own lives if they could help any of these children out. Such a terrible tragedy that didn't need to happen. Plus the lies they told. I believe those children were alive longer than what they claim based on evidence in the bloat of their bodies or only parts and text messages that stopped in the afternoon once the govt found out they had service.

[@q3st1on19]

One of the most egregious examples of negligence and incompetence in recent history in behalf of almost every party involved

[@monkofdarktimes]

To make things even worse the conspiracy theory that came about it

[@eliz_scubavn]

You forgot sheer unlimited capitalist greed.

[@skylined5534]

@@eliz_scubavn It astounds me that this is still a thing even now. Crazy.

[@neuralmute]

@crassgop That's a nice ideal, but when we're dealing with real humans, greed always ends up outweighing safety. Look at practically every video that PD's ever made. In a question of money vs. safety, money always wins. Even a case as far back as the Titanic is a clear case study in what happens when people with profit motives are allowed to make safety decisions.

[@thc2754]

Yes: Grose government incompetency. Form the top all the way down to the actual rescuers. Yes there were some very heroic people but were over shadowed by slowed actions, faulty equipment and poor training

[@johnladuke6475]

I remember this in the news when it happened, and the added shock of a bunch of kids getting cellphone video of their doom in progress. Hard to tell what's more unsettling; the actions of the captain and crew abandoning the passengers, or the passengers passively waiting for further instructions as the ship lists wildly and then sinks.

[@lilkittykat3214]

Every time I hear about this story, I get incredibly upset. I'm only a bit younger than most of the high schoolers. They were taught to always listen to and follow instructions from those older than them, and it ultimately costs them the ultimate price. If I was in a similar situation, I most likely would have listened to the adults the same way, because that's how I was raised.

[@loquatmuncher]

Do your best to break out of that mold. Think for yourself. Make your own mistakes and learn from them. The world was built by people no smarter than you.

[@dollinterrupted]

@@loquatmuncher she’s referring to children listening to the adults in charge lol

[@loquatmuncher]

@@dollinterrupted Am i missing something? " If I was in a similar situation, I most likely would have listened to the adults the same way, because that's how I was raised."

[@dollinterrupted]

@@loquatmuncher that means if she had been one of those students, she also would have listened because that’s how she was raised when she was a child.

[@loquatmuncher]

@@dollinterrupted okay. I was trying to encourage her to believe in herself and her own decision making ability.

[@emdotrod]

How the crew and the government handled this baffles me until now. It's incredble to said that the students were safe when in fact they didn't

[@R.-.]

Don't don lifejackets until you're on the deck of the ship. You can be trapped once the water starts flooding in.

[@saynotop2w]

Your film is appreciated. This is a sensitive incident among the Koreans which caused many innocent young lives. Unfortunately, in the modern history, the bigger the disaster the bigger the misinformation spread. The voices that are not Korean media can help shed light on truth.

[@TotallyNotRedneckYall]

I often read foreign news sources for a more detached view of my country. It helps me maintain my objectivity.

[@RailRide]

Have you seen the video by _Brick Immortar_ on this disaster? It goes into much more detail about how every responsible party failed those children, and the officlal attempts to cover it up.

[@sujimtangerines]

​@RailRide I've seen more in depth videos but I don't think I've seen that one. Thanks for the rec.

[@joshysbrand3567]

Imagine being up in an Airbus airplane and going into an emergency and your pilots and co-pilots jump out with a parachute and let you ride it down. How the captain and crew thought that would be okay is beyond me.

[@mafiousbj]

I believe "the dangers of greed" subtitle could be applied to half of the transportation accidents...the other half to complacency....or maybe both are two sides of the same coin!

[@Koozomec]

You can add corruption and nepotism on the list.

[@mafiousbj]

@crassgop greeds leads to lowering operating standards and maintenance in order to squeeze some extra profit...and neglicence usually comes from complacency...since as long as things go fine in the daily operation no changes or preventive measures are introduced...until a disaster happens

[@neuralmute]

@crassgop Check out the complete story of the Edmund Fitzgerald. They tried to do just that - work out careful calculations for greater efficiency, and the ship still ended up on the bottom of Lake Superior. Reducing safety margins for profit is never a good idea, because unexpected circumstances requiring those extra safety margins will always come up. Unless you want to be best remembered as a tragic song by a Canadian folk singer.

[@ZenkaiAnkoku2]

I remember when this was on the news. The outrage when it was discovered that the captain had abandoned the ship. That 304 people died, but a majority of the crew escaped. I'm glad to see the company and crew were actually held accountable for their actions. It's something we so rarely get to see.

[@carolinehoward180]

My dad was a Captain for many years and he would never have allowed that cargo to be unsecured let alone all the other incompetences. Later he became a leading Marine accident surveyor.

[@vincent67239]

It must be especially mind-boggling to those in industry (like your father) to see just how many layers of safety and security were arrogantly broken. It takes a special kind of evil to have that kind of work ethic.

[@Panda-cute]

I’d be curious to hear what your dad would say to this video!

[@carolinehoward180]

@@Panda-cute me too. Sadly he’s no longer alive. 🙁

[@Panda-cute]

@@carolinehoward180 aw I’m so sorry :( I hope he had a good, full, happy life and you have many wonderful memories to cherish of him.

[@GorgeDawes]

I work in aviation and I had a similar reaction to the aircraft disaster in Colombia involving the football team from Brazil. I will never understand how industry professionals could behave in such a grotesquely irresponsible way.

[@Happy_Shopper]

Anyone else get an ad for a cruise line before the video? Excellent timing

[@peachylavender]

I vaguely remember hearing about this way back when. All I knew was that the captain abandoned ship while the passengers drowned, but hearing the details of his and the crew's negligence makes my blood boil. That man was a selfish coward who has the blood of hundreds on his hands. I'm glad he was locked away, and my heart goes out to the victims' families. Thank you for not including the videos taken by the students, it would've been too hard to watch.

[@bliss0820]

It hurts..it really does..students and teens had to wait for their death..so disgusting..even a diver was in tears and heartbroken when he was diving and found 2 teens who were a bf and his gf that attached their wrists before sinking..its so heartbreaking that those 16 years old who had more to live watched and waited for someone to h3lp them and escape but instead waited for their deaths...i cwnt even imagine the pain those parents who sent their childs to a school trip only to turn as the last time seing them...rest in peace to all the pure souls..

[@ISoldßinLadensViagraOnEbayఔ]

Not to mention the school principal, who was fortunately saved by the rescuers, committed suicide the following day even though it wasn’t his fault

[@davidtraynor8075]

My other half who is Korean told me about this and I must admit, it never seemed to get reported on TV like most disasters and passed me by. After watching I can understand why he got emotional talking about it. Again, like so many of your videos, the deaths were needless and avoidable. Show me the money and I'll show you the crime.

[@diegonatan6301]

I knew that you were going to cover it in your channel one day, thank you. This is a disaster that I can't help but think about at least once a week since 2014... I live on the other side of the world, it 8 years have passed and I am still angry, I can't even think about how koreans feel about it. RIP all the victims, the principal that commited suicide, and the people that died during the rescue of the bodies.

[@tdcblue3900]

Same with me. Me being 2nd year of high school student when following this incident through the internet was a huge reminder of those young lives who were taken.

[@bri3268]

I wouldn't mind hearing more about oil rig disasters too. Specifically: The Santa Barbara Oil Spill, Alexader L Keilland capsize, Ocean Ranger, Piper Alpha and the Maersk Interceptor rig in the North Sea, who can forget the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill one of the biggest, heck, take any major oil tanker spill that happened in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Sea Empress and Exon Valdez come immediately to mind. I remember growing up then, it seemed every year there was some new oil spill (or completely off topic, hijacking.) I imagine they still happen, but they aren't nearly as common as they once were. (I'm thinking something for your legacy scale to rate.) I expecially like the fact that you give simple to understand diagrams as to the causes of such disasters and the measures taken to mitigate such disasters from happening again. Keep the videos coming.

[@luvondarox]

As soon as you mentioned the school kid who called out to let others know what was happening, I remembered this. Holy crap.

[@dollinterrupted]

I can never hear this story without breaking bc down in tears. So many children lost. It’s unimaginable.

[@mrkipling2201]

This disaster makes me so angry. It was so avoidable and unnecessary. It also showed how little consideration the authorities have for people in South Korea. Or did back then. Hopefully it’s changed so things like this can’t happen again.

[@ameliasparkles13]

Did you already do El Faro? I’ll go check. Edit- didn’t see it in your posts yet. The El Faro cargo ship was negligently sailed straight into a massive hurricane and killed everyone on it.

[@Panda-cute]

How do you just sail into a hurricane? Seems pretty obvious and avoidable

[@solandri69]

@@Panda-cute The captain (before heading off duty to get some sleep) ordered a course to skirt around the hurricane based on its day-old position and predicted route. The hurricane took an unexpected turn and ended up directly in front of them. When the ranking officer on duty got the updated position and phoned the captain to tell him it was dead ahead on their current course, he inexplicably thought the old data was more accurate and brushed her off. Basically overconfidence by the captain that he could weather this hurricane like he had countless others in his career, so he never took the danger seriously. Maybe a lack of willingness by the officer to challenge his decision. (They were in different rooms and communicating over the phone, so she lacked context to understand the reason for the captain's decision. She probably thought he decided based on the new data she gave him, but it seems like he decided based on reviewing the old data.)

[@Panda-cute]

@@solandri69 sounds like a lot of incompetence or at least a string of poor decisions unfortunately. Thanks for the info!

[@jaykim9570]

When I saw this incident on tv live, I can't do anything but cry. The innocent children were drowning, but officials literally just stayed there not rescuing them. This still haunts me these days.

[@TheMemeDynamics]

As a Korean, I was shocked that you actually said sorry for the bad pronounciation in the beginning even in Korean. I got to know you with the Moorgate Train Crash video, and sir, you make some impressive videos. Keep the good work going on. Also, the Korean pronounciations are understandable. Foreign people suffer a lot.

[@AgraeLpl]

This is another of ship accidents that brings one lesson - if something disturbing is happening with ship dont trust crew with stay put announcment. Go to deck with vest ready to abandon ship. Incompetence and trying to hide one fault led to too many victims.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Very true

[@kcindc5539]

Cowards! The Captain and his stooges who abandoned ship should pay for their dereliction of duty with their lives.

[@Panda-cute]

100% captain should’ve gone down with the ship

[@kcindc5539]

@@Panda-cute absolutely

[@Panda-cute]

@@kcindc5539 thank you!

[@SewolHoONCE]

Captain Lee is the same age I am. The judge had a choice: 39 years or life. At age 70, surviving 39 years in prison was highly unlikely, so the two choices were the same.

[@leszekbaron3206]

Might I suggest a video on the Andreev bay nuclear spill. A fairly unheard of nuclear accident where 700000 tons of waste leaked into the Barents sea and killed I think 2 people.

[@justdeidra13]

This is why I always tell kids in an emergency situation it's okay to disobey elders and teachers!

[@keithsj10]

That's terrible! I've watched most of your videos and this is the first one that actually brought tears to my eyes (nice job, that 👍) What a terrible unnecessary tragedy.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!

[@籃寥]

I can still remember this event as it unfolded on the news… this particular tragedy is one that sticks with me the most, it’s one that will probably stick with me for significantly more years to come

[@floopismcfloorpus4396]

It’s sad that those most effected by corruption are always those who are not involved…

[@rilmar2137]

Even though it won't bring back those who have perished, I'm glad at least those responsible received prison sentences

[@wilting_alocasia]

I can't believe rhis happened in 2014, it really only feels like a couple years ago :( I remember it so well from being heavily involved with anything S.Korean (stemming from a love for Kpop music), so it was immediately on my radar and my friends and I followed the disaster minute by minute. Shocked and saddened at what was happening and then becoming angered upon hearing the way the crew, captain and s. Korean government handled the whole situation Horrifying disaster that many lives could have been saved :(

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Scary how quickly time does go by!

[@thejudgmentalcat]

Did anyone on that boat know anything about sailing? The negligence is heartbreaking

[@SewolHoONCE]

박한결 세월호 3등 graduated from the Korean Merchant Marine Academy and had experience navigating the channel on another vessel, but, as Third Officer, could not modify the Captain’s orders. I have seen a report that she was pulled from the bridge through a broken window while she was, by line of succession, Captain of the Sewol. ¿Was she perpetrator or victim?

[@nomakewan]

Thanks for another interesting vid! Just as a note, the original name of the ferry while it was in Japan, "Naminoue," is "nah-mee noh ooh-ay," which means "atop the waves."

[@pfadiva]

Maritime lore says it's bad luck to change a ship's name after christening. Definitely in this case. Poor students.

[@yeoisa]

very haunting name knowing it’s fate :(

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

There's a certain level of irony in that name.

[@the_kombinator]

@@pfadiva It was a coincidence, nothing more. Thousands of ships change names and end up in Malaysian or Indian scrap yards at the end of their service life, incident free.

[@PieterPatrick]

I see Sewol in the title and my stomach turns up side down. 😕 This tragedy will haunt my life and I only watched videos of it. ... no words can describe this...

[@henryturnerjr3857]

"South Korea depended on the Honor System in regards to the shipping industry" I almost spit out my drink!! S. Korea needs to watch this and several other YT channels for a couple of hours!

[@hjy2187418]

Honor system, i.e bribe & corruption, it was very common in that era of Korean history

[@solandri69]

@@hjy2187418 It still is very common. If you look at Korea's GDP per capita (and Japan's and Taiwan's), it's still around $30k-$40k per capita, lagging behind most of Europe ($45k-$55k) and the U.S. ($65k) despite those countries being the source of much of the high tech we buy. Corruption hurts your productivity. Things have improved (after this disaster, the shopping mall collapse, the bridge collapse, and the collapse of a thankfully empty apartment complex under construction). But it's still very corrupt.

[@ljmelvin98]

Hope to see more ship disaster videos! I've been waiting for this.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@arkadiuszczopek7482]

I remember hearing about it briefly back in the day, but never really followed up on it. The most shocking thing is, that in the XXI century , 300 lives can be lost in such a way. Of course, greed, negligence etc played a massive part here, but ffs, what kind of person that captain has to be, to not to order an evacuation at the very moment he realised that the ship is surely going to capsize? You would think, that a Titanic sinking was bad enough, with all the underprivileged people being locked up under the deck to drown - but yet 100 years later same damn story. They were mostly kids, that should be able to rely on adult guidance, yet they were failed by grown ups, who not only decided to let them die, but also abandoned them. I can only try to imagine, what the parents of those poor children were feeling, when they found out that their sons and daughters all died, while the crew fled the ship... I am speechless. Smells like Costa Concordia, but on the other side of the globe all over again.

[@xanderuchida2398]

Absolutely disgusting that the captain and crew disregarded their duties and just abandoned ship with so many passengers left. RIP the innocent souls lost and screw the crew.

[@GloriosoMD]

Speaking of honesty, I would love to see an episode on the 737 max. There is so much dirt that you might even make it a series

[@Panda-cute]

Is that a plane? I love me some plane disasters

[@QueenofTNT]

@@Panda-cute The 737 MAX was a passenger plane model released by Boeing, which took its maiden flight in 2016 and was subsequently grounded from 2019-2020 thanks to the notorious MCAS system (Maneuvering Characteristic Augmentation System, I think?) causing two major passenger airplane crashes. Sadly I can’t remember anything else about it but it’s an interesting read, I’d be curious to see a video on it myself.

[@Panda-cute]

@@QueenofTNT oh that does sound interesting! Thank you for explaining. On another note I accidentally read your username as your reply and was very confused for a moment lol. Have a lovely day or night 😊

[@alexscott8736]

Been waiting for you to cover this!!!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!

[@BatAtTarkov]

I always stay to the end just to hear how the weather is on day of recording

[@nathangebben5738]

I always watch till the end to get my South East London UK weather update!!

[@NicknotNak]

I had a conversation about this very ship yesterday. A person who I know used to work as cruise personals and she told us about this crash and a few others while we were talking about the importance of safety drills. what weird timing.

[@ice-choco-Icecream]

Im glad you talked about it, I've just been heavily invested in this story since years ago and it keeps making me sad. It was something so avoidable yet something so tragic... hope the souls of the deceased find peace, and for their families to get a conclusion

[@dpahfl]

For many years after this tragedy the parents of the victims had tents in the middle of Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, which is close to the Blue House. They had all the victims photos up and I remember walking past it one day and just being shocked at how young these students were.

[@Mario12342010]

Excellent as usual friend

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@brianwong7285]

The sinking of MV Sewol was also the last straw for the South Korean people's patience towards the administration of then-President Park Geun-Hye. 2 years after this incident she was impeached and given a prison sentence in 2017 (thanks to a LOT of power abusing & corruption) but was released on the last day of 2021 [got a presidential pardon the week before that.]

[@scowler7200]

She was part of a death cult, right?

[@linethmejia1703]

What is she doing now?

[@longinus1016]

Thank you John for the quality content as always 🥂

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!

[@Sniperboy5551]

That captain is a real coward for doing what he did.

[@yunjang7548]

Wow. I remember this event. It even shut down tv production for a few.. People were outraged across the board. Especially when the crew leaving came out. I always wanted to know why it happened the way it did. Thanks for being there with a breakdown.

[@TheIcyWizard705]

The failures at every level are honestly astounding, for so many to do the wrong thing and end up killing so many people is just heart breaking

[@djmoch1001]

This is definitely one of the most horrifying disasters of all time. So many dead children, and some insanely criminally negligent people. It's rage-inducing, honestly. Thank you for a sensitive retelling of this absolutely horrible tragedy.

[@alexl9724]

Most of the victims were high school teenagers however.

[@TheIdiotChihuahua]

@@alexl9724 still young people, and they were teenagers which can be considered a child

[@TheStarcalibur]

Deep Water Horizon, explained by you, would make it more understandable

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you I’ll put it on the list

[@becomingchristian54321]

Excellent documentary. Thank you

[@phillipmcdougal5392]

To note, the vehicle storage area was expanded and many vehicles were unsecured, many because there were no tie downs for them. Furthermore, the company had a bad habit of emptying the ballast tanks so that the load lines on the outside of the ship would make it appear as if they were loaded properly. It's also likely that the ballast pumps were not properly functioning, as the system used to pump water from one side of the boats ballast tanks to the other was not functioning when the crew attempted to use the system to right the listing. The crew also did not directly communicate with the passengers as one of their three methods of communicating with the passengers did not work, and they assumed all three were down. Furthermore, the crew was not trained properly in evacuation, nor were many drilled on how to perform them. The initial rescue was uncoordinated, and coast guard elements like boats and helicopters were largely useless in the operation. One helicopter, which was sent by a larger coast guard vessel, is reported to have been tasked with observing the operation for the president of South Korea. The president at the time, and her cabinet, manipulated the facts and hindered rescue efforts, and then recovery efforts, in an act to try and save face. Operations like pumping air into the ship likely never happened and even if they were, they used equipment that was not meant for the job and operated by crews who had never done such a task before. This likely would have created pockets of unbreathable has that could have killed any survivors. The search and rescue operations undertaken by state supported divers from the coast guard and navy have been shown to have been falsified or completely rushed and not comprehensive. This situation was a much bigger failure than this video seems to suggest, and many of the high ranking politicians who exacerbated this tragedy were not fully held accountable.

[@Hey_MikeZeroEcho22P]

" John " I Truly, remember this incident.....living here in the US, and assisting in navigation as a USN sailor, I Was HORRIFIED of what had occurred!!! And being a high-school teacher as well after my stint with USN, having SO Many young lives ................. ;( ..... I just couldn't bear to watch the news anymore about this incident, until now, with your posting. I, as well as probably many here, thank you for doing Such Great work in " teaching us " in you numerous posts, of such 'Plainly Difficult' subjects.

[@totallynotphoenixwright]

I've been WAITING for one of my funny little disaster channels to cover the sinking of the Sewol. It's a horrific tragedy and should never be repeated... anyways time to dive in and watch the video. By the way, a funfact (or not so funfact): because the government wasn't doing jack shit for diving efforts, local divers and fishermen dove into the wreck of the Sewol and recovered bodies and phones and other lost items for family members. Sadly, one of those divers, Kim Gwan-hong, took his own life due to the horrors he saw in that cold, murky ocean water and narrow ferry hallways. It's a shame.

[@skynotaname2229]

I'm glad you made this but I don't think I can watch it. I was in Korea teaching when this happened... it was heartbreaking. During the lantern festival I saw hundreds of people marching with yellow lanterns spelling out the names of students lost. There was so much false hope spread by the media that some people could be still alive in an air pocket. I heard that the owner of the vessel/company of the vessel w as found dead and naked in a rice patty field. That the school's principal or homeroom teacher committed suicide and left a note saying he was going to go teach his students.

[@mhoppy6639]

There’s a lot more to this disaster. The captain actually changed into “civilian“ clothing to disguise himself as a passenger. There is footage of this online. The South Korean president was also later impeached due to established corruption insofar as. The South Korean government went after journalists who tried to expose the wrongdoing This is a great video, but for a much more comprehensive view of this disaster, see the bricks immortar channel. The whole incident is shocking from start to finish. The U.S. Navy offered to get involved with their massive expertise in search and rescue and diving et cetera and the South Korean, Coast Guard and authorities created a series of bogus safety inspections of their equipment which pissed Americans off to such a degree, they left the site.

[@williet.3058]

Don't be spies and provocateurs, and you'll be treated better

[@nedt]

Excellent video. Thankyou

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Glad you liked it!

[@MichaelEilers]

Disasters at sea always have a certain quality of inevitable doom. This is an incredible tragedy and I feel like the sentences should have been even harsher. The sea is a harsh mistress, for sure, and any weakness or mistake is punished.

[@ACDBunnie]

"... which lead to 304 deaths, 250 of which were school children" *cheery end music*

[@shaunsunley6248]

I’m not criticising the rescue personnel directly, they tried their best to save those left aboard by the negligent crew members but it seems a huge farce to me. I’m also shocked at the obedience of the passengers to stay in their cabins despite the 30 degree list. Sad story none the less.

[@fernandomarques5166]

I'd suggest watching brick immortar's video essay on the Sewol, as it has a more detailed, minute by minute narrative of the actions of the first on scene coast guard ships and helicopters, it will change your view on them.

[@thedie-castaviator4081]

@@fernandomarques5166 Yep, that's a great video.

[@marley8976]

A great great video on a terrible tragedy, well worth the wait!

[@dfuher968]

I know, theres big differences between Korean culture and Scandinavian culture, but if Im on a ship, that starts listing more and more, Im getting my life jacket and getting up top, where I at least have a fighting chance, while I can still walk upright, and I dont care, what the orders are.

[@thomaszinser8714]

Been rewatching some of your videos recently, they remain excellent. For a similar sort of disaster to this, you could consider doing a video on the worst maritime disaster of the Great Lakes, SS Eastland. A lot of the same lessons from that disaster were not heeded in the sinking of Sewol.

[@the_once-and-future_king.]

At least in one country your wealth can't buy you out of responsibility for the deaths you cause in the name of greed.

[@lindsaydempsey5683]

What a horrible and totally avoidable disaster. Shocking, I'm glad that those seafarers with direct responsibility were held to account. I've been on board a 'marginally stable' ship which is what is described early on. It is unmistakable and very concerning when it happens. It should have resulted in a requirement for all passengers to to go 'top sides' in case an evacuation was later required. AND immediate ballasting of the vessel to ensure stability. Great video, extremely sad story, made worse by the negligence of those responsible. My heart breaks for those affected.

[@torinjones3221]

Sorry but I'd never just stay in my room. If the ship starts sinking I am jumping overboard from the get go. I'd rather take my chances than just wait to be rescued

[@carlmanvers5009]

Korean society places a great emphasis on obeying instructions. Especially if you are a child. I can easily see why so many stayed in their cabins without question.

[@andyc4018]

Never been this early in my life! Love the videos buddy

[@jenniferofholliston5426]

A good treatment of a sad event. Punishment for the wrong doers may be satisfying, but I hope some changes were made to the system that made them think they should act like that.

[@royriley6282]

Watch the other videos of disasters in the West if you want to see how changing the regulations while letting the guilty continually go free works out for society. Consequence IS the system. Without consequences, there are no point to regulations. In most cases potential profits exceed possible fines. This is of course by design because who writes the regulations?.....

[@x4iaw931]

In the sinking of the Costa Concordia, the staff told passengers to go back to their rooms. That everything was fine, it's just an electrical issue. Then, they tried to prevent them from recording

[@Divaday179]

I remember that one from Internet Historian, didn’t know that there would be a worse disaster similar to it

[@SkeletinaScreama]

I'm high key obsessed with ship wrecks rn. There's a lot of good maritime disaster channels. Something so eerie about a sinking ship. Plane crash videos too. 😬

[@spacebug30]

This is one of those disasters that just keeps haunting me, it still seems so unreal to me how this could happen and take the lives of so many kids.

[@Otakunopodcast]

Nice to see someone actually receiving punishment for their misdeeds rather than walking off with a slap on the wrist at best.

[@rosenoel]

You forgot to mention how the government was more concerned with the appearance of a rescue than actually rescuing the kids, and how the Blue House (the ruling main cabinet of the country) was more concerned about getting a video feed than actually directing anything. And how all of this mishandling and corruption led to the president getting kicked out then jailed.

[@angelindenile]

South Korea does company negligence correctly-- arrest those responsible, not slap a fine on the company.

[@Zsword92]

This kind of legal transparency proves Korea has a moral and fair justice system. Something a lot of other 1st world countries could learn from. Ahem USA

[@Spiritbored]

i dont know if you'll read this but if you do then hear me out because i learned about a ship disaster that happened on a US naval ship called the USS Bennington. an explosion happened in 1954 and several crew died, theres an entire cemetary dedicated to the victims and it seems theres no videos documenting exactly what happened, at least not in a technical sense. it would be great to hear the story told by you and id love to see it become a new video of yours. love your content keep up the good work ♥️

[@Niskirin]

This incident is the perfect description of why you NEVER trust the scum in power and "authority" for or on anything. They're all incompetent, idiotic, don't give a damn about you or your circumstances and they will always avoid taking responsibility for their actions. Whenever someone in authority tells you to sit still and wait for rescue, that's your cue to run.

[@iViking90]

That is fine weather for an upload, John!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Its even worse today!

[@iViking90]

@@PlainlyDifficult it's a-pouring in southwest Indiana

[@redstarwarrior85]

You should post a list of the victims when you do these videos for 10-15 seconds with no audio before your outro.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thats a good idea, thanks for the feedback

[@redstarwarrior85]

@@PlainlyDifficult You have an awesome channel. Thank you for the entertainment and opportunities to learn.

[@techyrelic]

Love your vids, keep it up!