[Courtesy of the US embassy in South Korea]
The US Embassy in South Korea posted the photo of a magnolia tree presented by former president Barack Obama to pay tribute to South Korean high school students who died three years ago when an ill-fated ferry sank.
The tree was given to Danwon High School in Ansan south of Seoul when Obama visited South Korea in 2014 after the ferry sank off the southern island of Jindo on April 16 with the loss of more than 300 lives, most of them schoolchildren.
"The U.S. honored the Sewol Ferry victims with the gift of a magnolia tree and now the tree is ready to bloom. Our thoughts are still with them," the embassy said on its official Twitter account along with a photo showing the tree and Obama's remarks reading "The Magnolia represents beauty, and, with every spring, renewal."
The comments came after the Sewol ferry was raised from the sea floor and loaded onto a giant transport vessel. The ferry was carrying 476 people, including 325 students, when it sank. Only 75 students survived. A total of 295 bodies were recovered but nine victims remained unaccounted for.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
