‘REMEMBRANCE ROOM’ OF SEWOL FERRY

[Anchor Lead]

Classrooms used by 250 Danwon High School students who died in the Sewol ferry tragedy 7 years ago were restored and opened in April this year, named the “Remembrance Room.”The rooms and all its belongings and documents have become nationally-designated records.

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A calendar from 7 years ago that marked the day of their field trip. Memos and scribbles indicating lunch time. The hallway the students passed through up until the fateful school trip. The classrooms and the items within have been named nationally-designated records. It’s the very room used by Danwon High School sophomores before the Sewol disaster.

[Soundbite] Lee Ji-seong(Head of 4.16 Memory(Mother of late Student)) : "Ten classrooms and a faculty office are included. Altogether there are 473 items in total."

The remembrance rooms remained untouched at the school for two years since the ferry sinking. They were then relocated elsewhere in 2016 to ensure the right to study by other students. This April, the rooms found a permanent site in a new building. Everything has been restored to its original state. The windows, the door, ceiling fan and pictures hung on the hallway. Everything is the same as it was in April 2014. The National Archives of Korea said the items are records of a major social disaster and represent a collection of memories surrounding the tragedy and educational culture of that time. It said the classrooms hold social and cultural value as a site for the public to remember and cherish and also as a reminder of state responsibility. This marks the 14th such designation after the draft of Korea’s very first constitution by Yoo Jin-oh was named the first state-designated record in 2008. But it’s the first record related to a social disaster.

[Soundbite] Lee Ji-seong(Head of 4.16 Memory(Mother of late Student)) : "I hope this space will serve as a venue for discussions and education on life, safety, justice and peace."

The April 16 Institute of Democratic Citizenship Education and a private group consisting of families of Sewol victims requested the designation. They will now seek to list the records on the UNESCO Memory of the World.