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Story by Kerry Harvey and Jongmin Lee Photos by Colin Dabbs, Michael Hurt and John Caulfeld A community comes together Families seek answers after Sewol ferry disaster A NSAN, Gyeonggi Province — Kim Baek-gyu stood outside the school gates of Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Prov- ince, waiting for a five-hour shuttle bus ride that would take him to Jindo, South Jeolla Province. He had been watching the news of the Sewol ferry disaster unfold for days before he realized his son was one of the passengers still missing. “My son is in the ferry. I’m waiting for the bus to Jindo to find out what is going on there,” he said. His teenage son Ji-kwang had been living with Kim’s ex-wife, and he had no idea the boy was even a student at Danwon, which 325 of the students on board the ill-fated vessel attended. “I only realized he went to Danwon after my ex-wife called to tell me our son is one of the missing,” he said, with tears welling in his eyes. Only 75 students were rescued after the Sewol passenger ferry en route to Jeju Island capsized on April 16 off the southwest coast near Jindo Island. Of the 476 passengers on board, just 174 people were rescued, including the 74 students and three of their 14 chaperone teachers. The students and teachers were on their way to a four-day junior class field trip. In the aftermath of the sinking — Korea’s worst maritime disaster since 1993 — relatives of the passengers descended on Jindo, where survivors and victims were taken. A local gymnasium was turned into makeshift accommo- dation for relatives who frantically checked survivors’ lists and waited to hear news of their loved ones. The usually tranquil fishing island became engulfed by anguished cries of parents, gripped with unimaginable grief after realizing that their children, who had set off from Incheon just hours earlier, were never coming home. At Danwon High School, friends and relatives of the missing students and members of the local community wiped away tears as they arrived to pay their respects. They solemnly left white flowers, tied yellow ribbons and wrote Post- it notes with poignant messages to the dead and missing: “I don’t know you, but please come back.” “This world is so calm without you.” “Even if I did not meet you, I will remember you all.” “I hope you come back and feel this spring.”