세월호 유가족 백악관 편지 낭독 - 오바마 대통령에게 보내는 편지

백악관 편지 낭독

세월호 유가족이 오바마 대통령에게 보내는 편지

416 가족협의회

- 2015년 3월 15일 -

진실규명을 위해 미국을 방문하여 활동 중인 김동혁엄마 김성실님과 

임경빈엄마 전인숙님이 백악관 앞에서,

참사 직후 4월 25일에 한국을 방문하여 희생자들을 위로하고 

단원고에 ‘백악관 잭슨 목련’ 기증했던 

오바마 대통령에게 보내는 편지를 읽었습니다.

https://youtu.be/WWlE_bJHrxQ

   

   

Dear President Obama,

We are InSook Jun, mother of KyungBin Yim and SungShil Kim, mother of DongHyuk Kim. We lost 

our sons on April 16th, 2014 when the Sewol Ferry sank in the South West Coast of Korea. A total of 304 lives were lost underwater, including the DanWon High School Junior Class participating in their class trip. Over the last ten months following the disaster, we are still looking for the answers for the 

incident through street protests, rallies, and ‘meet the family’ conferences.

Last November 11th, the government of S. Korea declared an end to the search effort for the missing victims. They indicated that the search would continue on as they recover the vessel. However, they have not shown any clear intention or efforts to do so, despite the hopes of the victims’ families.

We have requested a face to face meeting with President Park in numerous occasions with no 

response. Rather, we have been met with police barricades every time we approach the Blue House 

to deliver our request. We have gathered over 6 million signatures in support of our actions, but we 

have yet to hear any sincere responses from the government.

Mr. President, we know that your mother was a courageous lady who raised you to be the great 

leader of the world that everyone looks up to. Among 251 DanWon High victims who perished in the Sewol Ferry disaster, there were some who had dreams of being a political leader like you; some who had dreams of being an aspiring artist, or had hopes of becoming a business leader or entrepreneur. We, as mothers of lost young lives with unfulfilled dreams, have only sorrowful regrets as we can do nothing but hold portraits of our kids.

When we were praying for a successful rescue, the Coast Guards were busy keeping other rescue 

efforts away, and taking no real action to get our kids out.

When we were all out of our minds at this incomprehensible situation, our government and the news media did everything they could to manipulate and misrepresent the facts in order to create 

confusion.

There were several regulatory agencies negligent of their jobs, allowing the over-aged vessel to keep operating and consequently carried passengers and cargo that exceeded its limit. The Ruling Party is doing its best to cover up any ties to those agencies and its officials. We do not trust them.

Mr. President, help us please! Receive us in your heart – the same caring heart that visiting Korea 

last April 25th, and expressed your regrets to the victims and their families. We implore you to take 

our story to heart, as your great mother would.

Please help us to recover and salvage the sunken vessel in order to uncover the truth behind the 

tragedy. This will allow us, along with 500 other grief-stricken parents, to finally put our children to 

rest in our hearts and move on with the rest of our lives. Please help us come to the realization that 

in our future, human lives hold more value than money. After all, the basic right for any person should be his or her own safety.

You donated a White House Jackson Magnolia tree to DanWon High in AnSan, which symbolizes beauty and rebirth. Please help us take it a step further through investigation of the vessel, so that our 

kids’ sacrifice does not end in vain.

We have no power. We are here as Mothers to ask you, President Obama and the rest of the world, 

to help us and support us in our journey. Please help us so our government can:

• Find 9 still missing from the Sewol Ferry accident.

• Recover the sunken vessel in a timely matter. It is physical evidence of the disaster and the actual 

accident site.

• Investigate any mishandling and wrongdoing involving the accident and actual cause of the accident by the independent body, so that the persons responsible can be identified and prosecuted.

• Set up a future plan to prevent more accidents of the same nature, so that the Sewol Ferry disaster never gets repeated.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your time.

Sincerely,

SungShil Kim, InSook Jun

Sewol Ferry victims family

First time visitors to US from AnSan Korea

<출처 : http://416family.org/5764>