Details suggest that, when the Sewol sank, officials responded poorly from the first meeting to discuss the option of pumping air into the ferry. The meeting of senior Coast Guard officials turned out to be a formality. The result of the meeting led to the use of air compressors, which practically had little effect.

On January 6, the Kyunghyang Shinmun analyzed the prosecutors’ reports from the questioning of Coast Guard officials and the statement of the Special Committee for the Investigation of the Sewol. According to our analysis, senior Coast Guard officials including the commissioner, Kim Suk-kyun, held a total of five meetings from shortly after the accident until air was pumped into the ferry on April 18, 2014. The first meeting was held at 3:40 p.m. on the day of the accident. The last meeting began at 2:45 a.m. on April 18, 2014. They spent nearly four hours discussing the option of pumping air into the ferry. The length of the meetings varied, some lasting as short as ten minutes and others as long as an hour and twenty minutes. The officials present included Commissioner Kim; Kim Soo-hyun, head of the Western Regional Coast Guard; Yi Chun-jae, director of rescue and safety; and Kim Mun-hong, chief of the Mokpo Coast Guard Station.

They selected contractors, established diver guidelines, and discussed rescue methods. However, there was no record or statement on details, such as the capacity or type of air compressor to be used. In the second meeting, which lasted ten minutes from 8:30 p.m. on the day of the accident, they simply reached the conclusion that the authorities would “proceed with the details by cooperating with the underwater specialist firm.”

Such lax discussions had consequences. The first special committee on the investigation of the Sewol presented results claiming that “Pumping air into the Sewol was just a show, so they would have something to report to Cheong Wa Dae,” in September 2016. Former President Park Geun-hye had asked former Commissioner Kim to pump air into the ferry on April 17, 2014 at the site of the accident. On the morning of April 18, 2014, Kim informed the families of the victims gathered at Jindo Gymnasium, “News just came in. At present, they have begun pumping air into the ferry.”

The Coast Guard failed to properly supervise the poor operations by the private contractors. At the time, the private contractors had reached the conclusion, “Bring in any air compressor as fast as you can, regardless of the capacity.” They then brought in small industrial air compressors to the site, but the Coast Guard failed to stop this. According to the special committee, the use of these small air compressors to pump air into the ferry was practically useless. They also used industrial oil for the air compressors. The special committee raised allegations that the Coast Guard connected the air compressors to the steering house, which was easy to pump air into, and then announced that they had pumped air into the restaurant on the third floor, where many of the passengers were gathered.

Park Jong-dae, the father of Su-hyeon, who died in the accident, said, “I can’t understand why they only pretended to pump air into the ferry after so many meetings. I suspect an intentional negligence of duties by the senior Coast Guard officials.” Park assisted the Kyunghyang Shinmun analyze the statements.