Sewol ferry disaster to be made into feature film

A ferry incident off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula that caused more than 300 deaths will be made into a feature film, industry sources said Sunday.

The movie, tentatively titled “Sea Tiger,” will be based on a novel written by Kim Tak-hwan about divers who were involved in the 2014 rescue operations on the doomed ferry Sewol.

Kim wrote the book based on the testimony of late diver Kim Kwan-hong, who committed suicide while suffering from the mental and physical aftereffects of the intensive work under the sea.

Citizens remember the Sewol ferry tragedy at a two-year memorial event, held on Jindo in April. (Yonhap)

“I made a promise to the diver Kim while we visited the disaster site that I would write a story (about the tragedy) and also make it into a film,” the writer said. “This movie is a calling for me.”

The movie will be directed by O Muel, who came to prominence when he received the Grand Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015 for “Jiseul,” a movie about the 1948 Jeju Massacre. O is said to be staying overseas to write the script.

This is the first time that one of the country's biggest maritime disasters is being made into a feature film. Previously, a few documentary films had been made on the incident.

The film is expected to go into production as early as next summer. (Yonhap)