1. The Korea Herald
The ferry disaster … has laid bare the nation's utter unpreparedness for major disasters. Although the government launched a new disaster response system in February … it has proven to be totally ineffective … The sinking of the Sewol ferry has also brought into focus the safety problems of coastal liners stemming largely from the small scale and poor financial status of their operators and the superficial nature of the government's safety checks … Due to financial constraints and poor safety awareness, many companies do not practice emergency safety drills as required by law. The operator of the Sewol ferry was no exception. Its navigation manual lists various safety drills but it did not practice them last year. Seoul
2. Global Times
Questions have arisen over why, in a highly modernised country, the shipping safety and emergency response measures were not as reliable as people had imagined … [South Korea] has a world-leading shipping industry. The nation's living standards also rank among the world's most developed countries. But combining these factors, it is hard to believe hundreds of students still died in an accident that did not have to result in so many deaths … The economic and social progress of South Korea is more advanced than that of China. The accident should also serve as a grim lesson for the Chinese people … China's … improvements to organisational capability should go beyond mere hardware upgrades. Beijing