South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won attends a meeting at the Finnish Parliament in Helsinki, in this file picture taken October 24, 2013. South Korean Prime Minister Chung resigned on April 27, 2014 over the government's response to the April 16, 2014 Sewol ferry disaster. The Sewol ferry sank on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the traditional holiday island of Jeju. Chung was booed and someone threw a water bottle at him when he visited grieving parents the day after the disaster. More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers from one high school on a field trip, have died or are missing and presumed dead. The confirmed death toll on April 27, 2014 was 187.[Photo/Agencies]
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won resigned on Sunday over the government's response to the April 16 ferry disaster.
The Sewol ferry sank on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the traditional holiday island of Jeju.
"Keeping my post too great a burden on the administration," a sombre Chung said in a brief announcement.
Chung was booed and someone threw a water bottle at him when he visited grieving parents the day after the disaster.
More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers from one high school on a field trip, have died or are missing and presumed dead. The children were told to stay put in their cabins, where they waited for further orders. The confirmed death toll on Sunday was 187.
Tempers have frayed over the slow pace of the recovery and frequent changes in information provided by the government, including at one time by a local government that everyone had been rescued.
Floating objects slow recovering bodies from sunken S.Korean ferry
Corridors and passenger cabins of the sunken South Korean ferry, which capsized off the country's southwestern coast, were jammed with floating objects, hampering search for bodies trapped inside the hull amid fast currents and bad weather.
As of Saturday night, 187 people have been confirmed dead, and 115 others remained missing. No one has been found alive since 174 passengers and crew were rescued on April 16 when the ferry sank en route to the southern resort island of Jeju from western port of Inchon.
Two thirds of 476 people on board were students and teachers of the Danwon High School in Ansan, a city south of Seoul, who were on a field trip.
Only two more bodies were recovered Saturday as floating objects were crammed into corridors and cabins. "A variety of obstacles such as chairs, beds and tables are blocking corridors and spaces where divers are moving," said Koh Myung-seok, a coast guard official who briefs reporters on search operations.
The 6,825-ton ferry Sewol was totally submerged upside down. Divers searched all places accessible, including lounges and compartments on the starboard side and in the middle part of the ship.
South Korean navy captain Kim Jin-hwang told reporters that the port side was jammed with most objects, making search harder.
Divers broke open window or make hole in the wall to enter passenger cabins, where many bodies were believed to be trapped. Another daunting difficulty facing divers was rapid currents off Jindo Island.
Weather conditions worsened. It began to rain Saturday night in the area. According to weather forecast, wind will blow at a speed of 9-14 meters per second Sunday and waves will be as high as 1-3 meters.
Around 100 coast guard, navy and private divers mainly searched passenger cabins on the third and fourth floors of the five-storey vessel. Over 200 ships and 36 helicopters scoured the waters for floating bodies.
The U.S. Navy's salvage ship USS Safeguard will give a hand. U. S. Navy divers will join the search operations if needed.
Rescue experts from the United States, the Netherlands, Britain and Japan have been providing counseling.
