South Korea’s prime minister, Chung Hong-won, has announced his resignation after a botched government response to the sunken ferry incident. As opposed to other countries with a prime minister, most of the power is concentrated with the President so this move is largely symbolic. A spokesman for South Korean President Cheong Wa Dae told the Washington Post that the President accepted Hong-won’s resignation. The President is required to accept the resignation in order for it to take effect.
Hong-won had been blamed for the government’s poor response beforehand. He had been booed after visiting grieving families and had a water bottle thrown at him. The government had also falsely alerted families that all the students from Danwon High School had been saved. The majority of people on the sunken ferry were students and teachers from Danwon High School that were on a field trip.