A DISASTER THAT SHOCKED THE NATION
Ferry services between Incheon and Jeju Island were immediately suspended following the tragedy.
It took seven years before operations resumed. However, this was short-lived – services halted again in April last year.
Mr Lee Sung-no, who runs a convenience store at Incheon port terminal, believes South Koreans simply cannot bring themselves to take the same ferry route after the tragedy, which left citizens in a state of mourning for months.
“The disaster caused huge trauma. People did not even want to utter the word ‘Jeju’ around here,” he said.
“After a while, (the ferry) business resumed, but it wasn’t doing well. And from what I heard, within about a year, there were incidents of engine failure, frequent failures, and with hardly any customers, the business folded.”
