The universal desire for Justice

Seoul, Korea. It was frosty cold standing in the center island of the broad avenue in Seoul, Korea leading to the historical palace and presidential house. There I met one of the grieving parents of the Korean ferry disaster. There is a protest encampment set up there where supporters and sympathizers come and stay and pray and demand justice for the families and victims of this terrible tragedy. There is a high sense and awareness of human rights and frequent democratic protests are held here in Seoul. But all are allowed to demonstrate continuously, peacefully or noisily without police crackdowns.

At the solidarity camp on the traffic island, the father of a child who was killed by the sinking of the ferry boat told me through an interpreter how the parents cannot accept the inaction of government. They want government to redress fully the injustice and the terrible wrong behind the sinking of the ferry and the loss of so many children and adults. He handed me a solidarity badge, a yellow folded ribbon. The children who died look out from the assembled 300 photographs at the temporary shrine to their memory. Their silent stares tell us of the enormity of their loss and greatness of the crime.