South Korean Prime Minister, Chung Hong-won, has resigned his position over his administration’s slow response to the ferry accident which led to the death of about 200 people, and many others were reported missing.
Hong-won announced his resignation early on Sunday at an emergency news conference in Seoul, the capital.
“I offer my apology for having been unable to prevent this accident from happening and unable to properly respond to it afterwards,” he said. “I believed I, as the Prime Minister, certainly had to take responsibility and resign.”
Prime Minister Chung outlined his decision on national television, after apologising “on behalf of the government for the many problems that arose during the first response and the subsequent rescue operation” in addition to “problems that existed before the accident.”
He also expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and prayed that they will have “quick recovery from the hurt of a slow recovery.”
Chung’s resignation has been approved by President Park Geun-hye although Reuters reports that her spokesman later said that he would remain in his post until the rescue operation was completed.
The Sewol ferry sank on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the traditional holiday island of Jeju.
Kang Min-Gyu, 52, hanged himself with his belt from a tree outside a gym in the port city of Jindo where relatives of the people missing on the ship, mostly children from the school, were gathered.
