Grief and Democracy: Mourning, Mobilisation, and Public Distrust after Recent Tragedies in South Korea

Résumé

Over the past twelve years, South Korea has faced two profound tragedies, the Sewol ferry disaster (2014) and the Itaewon crowd crush (2022). Both claimed many lives and exposed weaknesses in emergency management, alongside attempts to evade responsibility by the government. In each case, private grief became a collective political demand, fuelling civic outrage, digital activism, and a growing divide between citizens and those in power. Social media documented the events, supported collective
mourning, and preserved memory through hashtags and online initiatives, while commemorative practices such as yellow ribbons and vigils made private sorrow visible and transformed it into public engagement. How society remembers these victims depends not only on the scale of the disaster but also on social hierarchies and public narratives that shape which events endure in collective memory. These tragedies reveal how emotion, civic activism, and responsibility are woven into the fabric of contemporary South Korean democracy.

Keywords: Civic Engagement, Democracy, Sewol Tragedy, Itaewon, Accountability