South Korean prime minister offers to quit over ferry disaster

Seoul: Prime Minister Chung Hong-won, the No. 2 official in the South Korean government, apologized and offered to resign Sunday as the country remained angry and saddened over the sinking of a ferry that left 302 people, a vast majority of them high school students, dead or missing.

The government has come under fire as early investigations revealed a slew of loopholes in safety measures and a lax regulatory enforcement that investigators said contributed to the sinking of the 6,825-ton ferry, the Sewol, on April 16.

It was also criticized for failing to respond quickly and efficiently to the crisis and for fumbling during the early stages of rescue operations.

A somber-looking Chung accepted the criticism Sunday when he offered "an apology to the people" during a nationally televised news conference. "When I saw the people's sadness and fury, I thought it was natural for me to step down with an apology," he said.

Chung would be the highest-ranking government official to lose his job over the sinking, South Korea's worst disaster since 1995, when a department store collapsed in Seoul, killing 501 people.

South Koreans were especially traumatized because most of the dead and missing were students on a class trip.

Many survivors reported that the crew repeatedly instructed passengers to stay inside while the ship was listing dangerously and gradually sinking off southeastern South Korea.

The ship's captain, Lee Jun-seok, 69, and 14 other crew members escaped the ferry on the first two Coast Guard ships arriving at the scene. All of them were now under arrest on criminal charges, including accidental homicide.

Chung's resignation will become official when President Park Geun-hye accepts it. By midday Sunday, Park had not commented publicly on the resignation.

The prime minister's post is largely ceremonial, with the executive power concentrated in the presidency. The prime minister is sometimes fired when the government needs to take responsibility for a major scandal or policy failure.

As of Sunday morning, 115 ferry passengers remained missing. The number of the survivors, 174, has not changed for the past 11 days.

The official death toll was at 187 on Sunday, where it has remained because of bad weather.

Divers trying to reach inside the ship have been stymied by strong waves and rapid currents. Once inside, they face the more challenging task of making their way through narrow corridors clogged with debris to try to reach into small cabins in the front and a large communal sleeping hall in the back of the ship where many of the students were believed to have been trapped.

The nation has been plunged into a paroxysm of grief and shame. Loud cheering at baseball stadiums has been banned, and television comedy programs suspended. Schools canceled their spring-break trips. When thousands of Buddhists paraded through downtown Seoul on Saturday evening, ahead of the Buddha's May 6 birthday, many of them carried black-and-white lotus lanterns in memory of the dead.