According to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, from 1997 to 2006, a total of 3915 sea pollution accidents happened in Korea. The reasons why these accidents happened were carelessness (45%), marine accidents (30%), willful releasing of oil into the sea (14%), ship damage (8%), and others (3%). On December 7, 2007, oil poured into the sea off Taean, Chungnam province. Heibei Spirit, an oil tanker, crashed into a barge, and 12,547kl of oil poured from three holes in the oil tanker.

Why did this accident happen? First, despite a storm warning, the harbor control center permitted the 3000t barge to sail. Second, the biggest mistake was a communication problem. One hour before the accident happened, the Harbor Control Center tried to get in touch with the barge, but they couldn’t communicate with the captain. Finally, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries made a wrong prediction. They said that the oil would arrive offshore after 24 hours, but it took just 13 hours. Because of this, the oil spread rapidly and polluted a much wider area of sea.

Many fishermen in Taean worry about their livelihood. Fishing is a source of income for many Taean people, but now, it is not their job anymore. The fishermen worry about compensation. The maximum compensation is about thirty billion won, but it includes all restoration expenditure. Thirty billion won is not enough to clean up the sea.

Some people who live near the sea but don’t fish are also worried about compensation. They just pick oysters on the foreshore and make money through picking and selling them. The government said that they don’t have fish farms, so they didn’t have damage to their property. However, they are also victims. Because of sea pollution, they can’t pick oysters and gather seaweed. Last January, after the oil spill, three men killed themselves. Two men who lived in Taean committed suicide by taking poison, and another man burnt himself to death. They lost their jobs, but the government didn’t do anything. The compensation was delayed.

In 1995, Korea experienced another oil spill accident. The Sea Prince went down near Yeosu because of a typhoon, and about 5000t of oil poured out from it. At that time, LG Caltex (GS Caltex), who owned the ship, said that soon the oil would be removed, and the fishermen could work again. However, the oil has not been completely removed yet. The oil still remains in the sea. If you dig the mud foreshore or bottom of the sea, you can see that the oil has remained, and because of this only a few fish live there.

In addition, because LG Caltex (GS Caltex) did not give enough compensation, residents are still suffering. It gave just nine hundred thousand won to each family. Because of this, people who could not earn a living from the sea left their hometowns and even some committed suicide. LG Caltex (GS Caltex) should have paid enough compensation to the fishermen. However, it didn’t do anything for the fishermen after giving the nine hundred thousand won. Now, to hide that fact, LG Caltex (GS Caltex) is using money to keep the people from speaking. For example, the company gave electronic machines like microwave ovens or vacuum cleaners to each family and furnished money to the chief of a village to travel.

In the Sea Prince accident, the people who were damaged by the oil spill gave up the fight for compensation too easily. In contrast to them, Alaskans were different. In 1989 in the United States of America, the Exxon Valdez crashed into a rock, and 42,000t of oil spread to southern Alaska. This accident caused damage to many people and sea creatures, but Exxon, the oil company that owned the ship, didn’t pay enough money despite a court decision that Exxon should pay compensation. Because of this, the fishermen have been struggling for eighteen years and the struggle is in progress even now. In this case, even though the people didn’t receive enough compensation, the government spoke for them.

After this accident, the United States of America and European nations enacted a law that only double hull structures are allowed to sail within the territorial waters of their countries. Double hull structures have double layers, but single hull structures have a single layer, so when accidents happen, single hull structures are much more dangerous than double hull structures. Because of this, many developed countries use double hull structures. However, the Korean government permits single hull structures. The Heibie Spirit was a single hull structure, and it made the problem much bigger.

Although many days have passed, the Korean government is sitting around and looking over the situation rather then helping. The principal offenders are the government, Samsung Heavy Industry, and Heibei Spirit, but they are quiet, and they are blamed for not doing their best to solve this problem. The government is not a speaker for business, but for the people. However, the Korean government looks as if it is hiding something. It must find the cause of the accident and save the poor people from difficulty.

In addition, Samsung is avoiding responsibility for this accident. According to the law, if accidents happen because of willfully releasing oil or carelessness, penalties and compensation are extended indefinitely. However, Samsung hasn’t taken any action, and it has tried to run away without any penalties. Samsung should apologize to the sufferers and take the lead in restoring Taean. In this situation, the government and both companies should take responsibility.

Although the government and Samsung are keeping silent, 409,233 volunteers have visited this area. They are very helpful in removing the oil and helping the victims, but the area and the sufferers need more people. In addition, government goods and donated goods are still lacking in Tae-an, so we should support the poor sufferers much more, and we should be concerned about this tragic accident.