South Korea's president announced plans to disband the coast guard and root out corruption and collusion between regulators and shipping companies on Monday, according to Reuters.
Furious citizens believe the lack of regulation led to a ferry disaster last month that left more than 300 people dead or missing, the AP reported. The tragedy exposed regulatory failures that appear to have allowed the ferry to set off with far more cargo than it could safely carry.
President Park Geun-hye's first televised address to the nation since the April 16 sinking began with a deep bow and ended with her tearfully reading the names of passengers and crew who died trying to save others, according to the AP.
In Monday's speech, Park decried the accumulation of "widespread abnormal practices" that she said triggered the sinking, the AP reported.
"We failed to rescue students who we could have saved," Park said, the AP reported. "The ultimate responsibility for not properly dealing with this incident is mine."
Park has apologized before, but critics have called for her to formally address the nation and respond to claims that incompetence, corruption and bad leadership doomed the ferry and those trapped inside it, according to the AP.
Most of the victims were students from a single high school near Seoul who were traveling to the southern tourist island of Jeju, according to the AP.
Park called the coast guard's rescue operations a failure and said she would push for legislation that would transfer its responsibilities to the National Police Agency and a new government safety agency she plans to establish, the AP reported.
Park Kwang-on, a spokesman for the main opposition party, said the plan to disband the coast guard gives the impression that the government is shifting all the responsibility for the sinking to the coast guard, according to the AP. The president's plans require parliamentary approval, according to her office.
Park said she would also push for separate legislation aimed at rooting out collusive and corrupt ties between bureaucrats and civilian sectors, something seen by many as a reason for the sinking, the AP reported. Park also said retired officials have a tradition of working at the Korea Shipping Association, which oversees safety issues of ships.
