@article{ART003326927},
author={Ilyeong Jeong},
title={Whose Death is Forgotten? - Structural Oblivion Through the Lens of the Sewol Ferry Disaster -},
journal={The Review of Korean History},
issn={1225-133X},
year={2026},
number={161},
pages={41-82}
TY - JOUR
AU - Ilyeong Jeong
TI - Whose Death is Forgotten? - Structural Oblivion Through the Lens of the Sewol Ferry Disaster -
JO - The Review of Korean History
PY - 2026
VL - null
IS - 161
PB - The Historical Society Of Korea
SP - 41
EP - 82
SN - 1225-133X
AB - This study investigates the process of “structural oblivio” in South Korean society, focusing on the Sewol Ferry disaster. It argues that the forgetting of social catastrophes is not a natural erosion caused by the passage of time, but rather a deliberate outcome driven by specific rhetorical strategies and spatial arrangements. The author analyzes how the state and media frame disasters as mere “accidents” to absolve the government of responsibility and transform the mourning of victims into a private financial matter through the rhetoric of “compensation,” thereby othering the victims as “impure.” This mechanism of structural oblivion has repeatedly surfaced from maritime disasters following the liberation to the recent Itaewon tragedy, systematically neutralizing social memory through deliberately induced “empathy fatigue” and the hierarchical competition between different disasters.
Furthermore, this paper examines how such structural oblivion is closely intertwined with the decontextualized placement of the “space for the dead” in South Korean society. The taboo of death, reinforced by hygiene and economic logic since the Japanese colonial period, has concealed and isolated spaces of mourning from the realm of daily life. Consequently, memorial facilities for disasters such as the Seongsu Bridge collapse or the Sampoong Department Store collapse have been relegated to desolate areas or downgraded to “safety monuments” stripped of their original context. In conclusion, this study emphasizes that the oblivion of social disasters is a structural phenomenon resulting from the combination of prepared rhetoric and spatial politics that erase the “placeness” of death. Recognizing this structure is the essential first step toward practicing “active memory” for the well-being of the community.
KW - Sewol Ferry Disaster;Social Disasters;Structural Oblivion;Space for the Dead;Decontextualization;Politics of Memory;Accidentalization of Disasters
DO -
UR -
ER -
Ilyeong Jeong. (2026). Whose Death is Forgotten? - Structural Oblivion Through the Lens of the Sewol Ferry Disaster -. The Review of Korean History, 161, 41-82.
Ilyeong Jeong. 2026, "Whose Death is Forgotten? - Structural Oblivion Through the Lens of the Sewol Ferry Disaster -", The Review of Korean History, no.161, pp.41-82.
Ilyeong Jeong "Whose Death is Forgotten? - Structural Oblivion Through the Lens of the Sewol Ferry Disaster -" The Review of Korean History 161 pp.41-82 (2026) : 41.
Ilyeong Jeong. Whose Death is Forgotten? - Structural Oblivion Through the Lens of the Sewol Ferry Disaster -. 2026; 161 : 41-82.
Ilyeong Jeong. "Whose Death is Forgotten? - Structural Oblivion Through the Lens of the Sewol Ferry Disaster -" The Review of Korean History no.161(2026) : 41-82.
Ilyeong Jeong. Whose Death is Forgotten? - Structural Oblivion Through the Lens of the Sewol Ferry Disaster -. The Review of Korean History, 161, 41-82.
Ilyeong Jeong. Whose Death is Forgotten? - Structural Oblivion Through the Lens of the Sewol Ferry Disaster -. The Review of Korean History. 2026; 161 41-82.
Ilyeong Jeong. Whose Death is Forgotten? - Structural Oblivion Through the Lens of the Sewol Ferry Disaster -. 2026; 161 : 41-82.
Ilyeong Jeong. "Whose Death is Forgotten? - Structural Oblivion Through the Lens of the Sewol Ferry Disaster -" The Review of Korean History no.161(2026) : 41-82.
