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ASIA / PACIFIC Page 4 n THE ASIAN REPORTER June 2, 2014 South Korean president wants coast guard disbanded By Hyung-jin Kim The Associated Press S FLIGHT DELAY. Feng Yi, one of two giant pandas from China, sits in a cage upon arrival at the cargo terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia. The pandas, named Fu Wa and Feng Yi, arrived in Malaysia to mark 40 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries. The pandas are on loan to Malaysia for ten years. (AP Photo/ Vincent Thian) Two pandas arrive in Malaysia from China after delay KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Two giant pandas have arrived in Malaysia from China after a one-month delay due to the missing Malaysian jetliner. Male Fu Wa and female Feng Yi are on a 10-year loan from China to commemorate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Upon their arrival on a special plane, they were taken to a specially built complex at the national zoo, where they’ll be quarantined for a month before receiving visitors. The scheduled arrival of the pandas was postponed out of respect for relatives of passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The search is ongoing for the plane, which vanished while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 with 239 people on board, mostly Chinese. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES Qualified small businesses will get at least 12 hours of technical assistance and training, tailored to meet the individual business development needs of each client. Prior to services being delivered, each client’s business development needs will be assessed and an individual Service Plan will document assistance to be provided. Contact: <leihosmillo@msn.com> or (503) 285-1994 A collaboration of the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce (HMCC), and the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon (PACCO) through a grant from the Portland Development Commission (PDC) 1 2 4 5 3 7 6 5 2 4 6 7 8 8 9 3 7 6 7 5 9 3 1 8 5 4 Difficulty level: Medium EOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s president has pledged to disband the coast guard amid mounting criticism of its failure to save hundreds of passengers trapped in a sinking ferry. Critics said President Park Geun-hye was trying to shift attention from her mishandling of one of South Korea’s deadliest disasters in decades. The country’s coast guard is a nonmilitary agency and does not patrol the maritime frontier with North Korea, which is done by the navy. Still, a move to abolish the independent coast guard in a peninsula country surprised many. The agency has faced withering criticism that it acted slowly and unprofessionally in botched rescue and search efforts. The April 16 sinking of the Sewol left more than 300 people dead or missing. Park’s first televised address to the nation since the sinking began with a deep bow and ended with her tearfully reading the names of passengers and crew who died trying to save others. With her approval ratings plummeting ahead of the mayoral and governor elections, the speech sought to acknowledge widespread anger over government failures as well as chart a path forward. Most of the victims were students from a high school near Seoul who were travelling to the southern tourist island of Jeju. “We failed to rescue students who we could have saved,” Park said. “The ultimate responsibility for not properly dealing with this incident is mine.” But Park also held the coast guard responsible for the high death toll. She called the coast guard’s rescue work a failure and said swifter, more aggressive action in the initial stages of the sinking could have saved more lives. Park said she would push for legislation aimed at transferring the coast guard’s responsibilities to the National Police Agency and a new government safety agency that she plans to establish. The new agency would also take over maritime traffic controlling responsibilities, currently held by the Ocean Ministry, and safety and security responsibilities, held by the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, and would deal with both land and sea disasters, she said. Coast guard chief Kim Suk-kyoon said his agency would humbly accept Park’s decision and intensify efforts to recover all missing ferry passen- gers. More than six weeks after the sinking, 286 bodies have been COAST GUARD CRITICISM. South Korean coast guard officers try to rescue passengers from the Sewol ferry as it sinks in the waters off the southern coast near Jindo, south of Seoul, South Korea, in this April 16, 2014 file photo. South Korea’s president has pledged to disband the coast guard amid mounting criticism of its failure to save hundreds of passengers trapped in the sinking ferry. (AP Photo/Yonhap, File) retrieved but 18 others are missing. 1,000-ton-class ships or bigger Some 172 people, including 22 of the vessels; and about 25 percent of its top 67 officers have had less than one ship’s 29 crew members, survived. The immediate backlash from month of experience working on Park’s rivals could signal a rough patrol ships, the coast guard said, path for the proposals, which require confirming reports published by lawmakers. parliamentary approval. Despite the criticism, Kim Woo- “Disbanding the coast guard is an extremely sensational, stunning Sook, a professor at Mokpo National announcement, and it gives an Maritime University, said the coast impression that Park is passing all guard shouldn’t solely take the the responsibility to the coast guard,” biggest responsibility for the said Park Kwang-on, a spokesman for disaster. He said allegations that the the main opposition party. ferry set off with far more cargo than The coast guard has been blamed it could safely carry and that crew for a series of missteps during and members abandoned passengers in after the sinking. Questions have need should also be equally been raised about why its boats came considered as main factors. late to the scene and why rescuers Prosecutors last month indicted 15 didn’t enter the sinking ship to rescue crew members tasked with passengers trapped inside. The coast navigating the ship, four on homicide guard has said that the ship was charges. listing too far for officers to enter The ship’s captain, Lee Joon-seok, when they arrived. initially told passengers to stay in A senior coast guard officer dealing their cabins and took about half an with relatives of missing passengers hour to issue an evacuation order, but stepped down after he was found to it’s not known if his message was ever have had close ties with the ferry’s de conveyed to passengers. facto owners. Another officer was The head of the ferry operator, arrested for allegedly leaking Chonghaejin Marine Co. Ltd., and confidential information that the four other company employees have authorities would investigate regula- also been arrested. Authorities sus- tors. The coast guard has also faced pect improper stowage and overload- criticism for repeatedly correcting the ing of cargo may have contributed to number of survivors and people the disaster. aboard the ship. During her speech, Park also said The coast guard, founded in 1953, she would push for separate at the close of the Korean War, only legislation aimed at rooting out became an independent organization collusive and corrupt ties between in 1996. It was previously part of the bureaucrats and civilian sectors, country’s police agency. One big coast something seen by many as a reason guard responsibility is dealing with for the sinking. Park said retired Chinese fishermen illegally officials have a tradition of working at operating in South Korean waters. the Korea Shipping Association, The new agency would take over which oversees safety issues of ships. those duties. The disaster has prompted soul- Eleven out of the 13 coast guard searching about the nation’s neglect chiefs named since 1996 have been of safety as it built Asia’s fourth- land-based police officers, not coast biggest economy from the ashes of the guard officers; the top 14 current 1950-1953 Korean War. coast guard officers have no Associated Press writers Foster Klug and Jung- experience working as captains for yoon Choi in Seoul contributed to this report. #14576 The Asian Reporter is published on the first & third Monday each month. Instructions: Fill in the grid so that the digits 1 through 9 appear one time each in every row, col- umn, and 3x3 box. Solution to last week’s puzzle Puzzle #74693 (Easy) All solutions available at <www.sudoku.com>. 9 5 8 3 2 6 1 4 7 6 4 3 5 7 1 8 2 9 2 1 7 9 4 8 5 6 3 8 6 1 2 3 4 7 9 5 7 2 5 8 1 9 4 3 6 3 9 4 7 6 5 2 1 8 4 7 2 6 5 3 9 8 1 5 3 9 1 8 2 6 7 4 1 8 6 4 9 7 3 5 2 News page advertising deadlines for our next three issues are: June 16 to July 6 edition: Space reservations due: Wednesday, June 11 at 1:00pm Artwork due: Thursday, June 12 at 1:00pm July 7 to 20 edition: Space reservations due: Wednesday, July 2 at 1:00pm Artwork due: Thursday, July 3 at 1:00pm July 21 to August 3 edition: Space reservations due: Wednesday, July 16 at 1:00pm Artwork due: Thursday, July 17 at 1:00pm For more information, call (503) 283-4440 or e-mail <ads@asianreporter.com>.