South Koreans mourn on anniversary of ferry disaster

South Korean President Park Geun-hye's name (bottom C) is seen on a chair as politicians take their seats, before a memorial ceremony at the official memorial altar for the victims in Ansan, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the ferry disaster that killed more than 300 passengers, April 16, 2015.

Park, along with senior presidential secretaries, originally planned to meet family members of the victims and the missing, but the plan did not come through as the families temporarily closed the memorial altar and left the spot in protest against the government's response.

Family members of the victims and survivors were scheduled to hold their own memorial services at about 2 p.m. at the group memorial altar in Ansan, but they decided to delay it indefinitely until the government accepts their demands.

The committee for families of the April 16 ferry disaster has demanded the scrapping of the enforcement decree for a special committee to investigate the incident, announced on March 27 by the government.

The family members said the decree will hinder the fact-finding as it undermines independence of the committee. The executive order also restricted the scope of investigation to the analyzing and reviewing of the results of the government's investigation.