South Koreans Remember Victims of Ferry Disaster

Relatives mourning the 304 dead, mostly schoolchildren, are accusing top officials of indifference to the tragedy.

Bowing to a key demand of the victims' families, President Park Geun-Hye used the anniversary on Thursday to announce that the 6,825-tonne vessel would be brought to the surface at "the earliest possible date".

Park made the statement during a visit to the southern island of Jindo, the closest landfall to the site where the Sewol sank on April 16.

Family members, still angry over the official response to the disaster, declined to meet her, and there was no immediate response from the relatives to the announcement that the ferry would be raised.

The focus of Thursday's anniversary was on Ansan city, south of Seoul, where a single high school lost 250 students when the ferry went down.

Flags flew at half mast and yellow ribbons fluttered from trees and lamp posts as sirens blared across the city at 10am local time (01:00 GMT) and residents bowed their heads for a minute's silence and prayer.

Despite heavy rain, a steady stream of mourners passed through the memorial hall in Ansan, containing hundreds of black-ribboned, flower-ringed portraits of the dead students.

Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett, reporting from Ansan, said the commemoration was still very anger-ridden.

"Families abandoned the main commemorative event. Time has not healed very much," he said.

He said family members went to the site of sinking and "many broke down in tears ... in incrimination of both themselves and the government".

There is widespread frustration among many South Koreans who see their government as having failed to meaningfully improve safety standards and hold high-level officials accountable for a disaster blamed in part on incompetence and corruption.