hankyoreh

Kim Young-oh

By Lee Jae-uk and Kim Il-woo, staff reporters

On the morning of Aug. 22 - the 40th day of his hunger strike calling for the legislation of the special Sewol Law - Kim Young-oh, 47, father of Yu-min, a high school girl who died in the tragedy, was taken to the hospital. But even there, he is continuing his hunger strike, refusing to eat.

Until that fateful day of the Sewol tragedy, Kim was much like any other worker. Born in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, Kim was an irregular worker at a factory making automobile parts in Asan, South Chungcheong Province. “He didn’t say much, and he didn’t like to be shown in front of other people, but he was a stubborn person,” one of his coworkers said. When was asked why he worked so hard, he answered, “So that my daughter can go to university”. Just before the Sewol tragedy, his company had notified him that he was being converted to a regular worker.

However, the shocking death of his oldest daughter completely changed his life. On April 25, ten days after the Sewol Ferry went down, the body of his daughter Yu-min, 17, was found in the cold waves. His daughter had served as a major motivation for him, and he treasured her memory in his heart. He went back to the factory on May 7 to try to forget the tragedy, and worked for 20 more days, but ultimately he applied for leave.

“When I am working, I seem to hear my daughter screaming for somebody to save her. All I could think about was my daughter,” Kim said in an interview with the newsletter of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union, which is affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.

On July 14, Kim and 14 other family members of the Sewol victims started an indefinite hunger strike. But one by one, the other participants had to end their hunger strike and return to work. From Aug. 5, the 23rd day of the hunger strike until now, Kim has been alone.

With discussion of the special Sewol Law in the National Assembly going nowhere, the tent in Gwanghwamun Square where Kim has been staying has born witness to the Sewol tragedy. Kim has been joined by lawmakers, filmmakers, singers, university professors, and everyday people on sympathy hunger strikes. When the visiting Pope Francis took him by the hand and comforted him before the beatification ceremony at Gwanghwamun Square on Aug. 16, Kim handed the pope a letter that said, “I began my hunger strike because the government and the ruling party are ignoring the desperate pleas of the bereaved families.”

“When I saw Kim at Yu-min’s funeral, he was the image of a mild, well-mannered father. After that, I heard that he had gone back to work, but perhaps because he couldn’t concentrate on his work, he stopped going and dedicated himself to the Sewol Family Committee. Sometime after that he started the hunger strike. We had no idea that he would fast for this long, either. During his work for the families committee, he seems to have been greatly disappointed in the government,” said a man surnamed Kim, the father of another student at Danwon High School who died in the tragedy.

During his fast, Kim has walked from Gwanghwamun Square to the Blue House several times to request a face-to-face meeting with President Park Geun-hye, but time and time again his request has been rejected. On Aug. 20, the 38th day of his hunger strike, he tried once again to go to the Blue House, but police blocked his way and he had no choice but to turn back.

father of a high school girl who died in the Sewol tragedy

“I got really angry as I was listening to lawmaker Park Young-sun [chair of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy emergency committee], who visited my tent yesterday. In the afternoon, there was a scuffle in front of the Blue House. [. . .] No matter how much they said they weren’t protesting, but were just trying to submit petitions, they weren’t allowed to go forward. [. . .] I have no strength in my hands. I wake up in the middle of the night, and I don’t feel rested. I don’t think I’ll be able to do anything today. I have such a bad headache that I don’t think I can write any more in my diary,” Kim posted to Facebook on Aug. 21.

Shortly after that, Kim lay down in his tent from exhaustion. Early the next morning, he was taken to Seoul Metropolitan Dongbu Hospital.

“The hospital staff offered Kim 200cc of rice gruel, soy bean soup, and barley tea, but Kim refused to eat it. He said, ‘If I end my hunger strike here without seeing the legislation of the special Sewol Law, I won’t be able to look Yu-min in the face, and life won’t be worth living,’” said Yoo Kyung-geun, spokesperson for the family committee.

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