Divers recovered 22 more bodies from the wreckage of the ferry Sewol late Monday, pushing the death toll up to 87.The bodies have yet to be identified but authorities suspect that many of them are students from Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. With Monday’s discoveries, the number of unaccounted for passengers now stands at 215. More than 200 of the missing are expected to be Danwon High School students and teachers who were on their way to Jejudo Island on a school trip. The resc

 A South Korean woman who made a false claim on a television interview about the delayed rescue operation of the capsized ferry Sewol turned herself in late Sunday, police said.The South Jeolla Provincial Police Agency on Saturday issued a warrant to detain the 26-year-old woman, surnamed Hong, who claimed that the Coast Guard told civilian divers to “kill time” and that some divers had confirmed survivors inside the sunken ship.Police said Hong was immediately detained after voluntarily appeari

Divers combed the sunken ferry Sewol, retrieving more than a dozen bodies over the weekend.More than 560 divers took turns Sunday entering the ship and searching passenger compartments while 204 Navy, Coast Guard and private vessels. But hopes were fading for any survivors among the hundreds still missing.

Hundreds of civilian, Coast Guard and Navy divers are putting their lives on the line to search for the missing passengers of the capsized ferry Sewol.Late Saturday, divers successfully entered the wreckage after four days of efforts that were frustrated by dangerous conditions. The rescue divers are taking on the daunting task despite the potentially life-threatening circumstances, in the hopes of finding survivors inside the vessel.Many of the civilian divers view the matter as if the victims

Korea faces an unconventional threat that has long been predicted for this new era in which the enemy remains hidden and can cause social disruption like that following the devastating ferry accident off the southwest coast.This enemy has turned out to be none other than business corruption, selfishness and rivalry between government agencies ― not the strong tides, rain and poor underwater visibility that have hampered the nation’s search operations for hundreds of missing passengers.These ingr

(Yonhap)Spam text messages sent to smartphones and other mobile devices claiming to have information on the sunken Sewol ferry, have been spreading widely and hurting family members of the victims.The government warned citizens not to download such SMS phishing, or “smishing,” messages, which are aimed at extracting personal data.It told the public to just delete false messages as they can embed malicious codes in mobile devices if their attached links are clicked on.The government and police wa

The illfated ferry Sewol was overloaded and its crew seemed to have broken several other safety guidelines, which could have been the cause of the sinking on April 16, insiders suggested Sunday. The 20-year-old vessel was reportedly renovated in 2012, after it was purchased from a Japanese ferry company. Two cabins were added to the back, possibly making it top-heavy, experts claimed. Though it is not illegal to extend a ship vertically, it could exert greater weight and pressure on the vessel,

The causes may be very different and the toll far heavier but Italian media have pointed to similarities between the ferry disaster of the Sewol in South Korea and the Costa Concordia cruise ship crash in 2012.“A case of Schettino in Korea” has been the recurring headline in Italian newspapers in the past few days ― a reference to the Italian liner’s captain now on trial for an accident in which 32 people lost their lives.With South Korean rescuers reporting 270 people missing and 32 confirmed d

The sunken Sewol ferry’s crew may have delayed evacuating the passengers despite repeated instructions to do so, Jindo maritime traffic service’s communications log showed Sunday. The disclosed communications log detailing the conversation between the Sewol and the Jindo Vessel Traffic Service showed that the crew was told on a number of occasions to implement emergency measures. However, the Sewol’s communications officer concentrated on whether the Coast Guard was on its way without relaying t

As the death toll creeps up and hope fades for about 240 missing passengers on the submerged ferry, grief and despair are sweeping through the nation. Many South Koreans opt for donations and volunteer work over spring festivals, weekend getaways and Easter celebrations. At the frontline of the rescue efforts, the families of the missing have been camping out on Jindo Island off the southwestern coast since the Sewol capsized and sank there. But it is the entire population, not only the relative

(Yonhap)Korean companies are working to provide the necessary aid and emotional support as the nation still rocks from shock and grief over the tragic accident involving the Sewol ferry. Samsung Group, the nation’s largest corporation, reportedly sent out an official memo for employees to refrain from activities such as golfing and drinking on April 17, a day after the ferry started to sink. Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee, who recently returned from an extended overseas business trip, expressed hi

The number of passengers and the weight of cargo on the Sewol were falsely reported, raising suspicions that the ferry company was trying to cover up allegations that the ship was overloaded.In a departure report, Chonghaejin Marine Co. told authorities at the Korea Shipping Association that it had 450 passengers, 24 crew members, 150 vehicles and 657 tons of cargo on board, according to YTN reports on Sunday.But shortly after the accident on Wednesday, the ferry operator quickly changed the num

As hopes for miracle fade, families clash with police, attempt to visit Cheong Wa Dae in protest