The main memorial ceremony was held at Hwarang Public Garden in Ansan, 50 km south of Seoul, with the attendance of about 5,000 government officials, bereaved family members and citizens.

Representatives of all political parties, except the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hae, Oceans Minister Moon Seok-hyeok and Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung were among the participants.

After a one-minute memorial siren and a silent prayer, Yoo and other dignitaries delivered addresses, followed by a memorial performance, the reading of a memorial poem and collective singing of a memorial song.

A separate ceremony was held at a public cemetery in Incheon, west of Seoul, in memory of 41 Sewol ferry sinking victims other than Danwon High students and teachers. LKP Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn attended the Incheon memorial ceremony and promised to make greater efforts for a safe nation in an address.

In other parts of the country, similar memorial ceremonies and other events were held to remember the ferry sinking victims and to enhance public awareness of maritime safety.

A group of 24 bereaved family members of Danwon High student victims visited the site of the ferry sinking aboard a fishing boat in waters off the southwestern port of Paengmok in Jindo, South Jeolla Province. They called the names of their lost children and threw flowers into the sea.

At the Paengmok port, mourners walked along a Sewol ferry memorial wall and the seawall in the morning to remember each of the sinking victims.

Citizens and teachers held news conferences in Gangwon Province and the southern city of Gwangju to call for a thorough investigation into the disaster.

All staff at the Gangwon Provincial Office of Education held a silent prayer at 10 a.m. before singing a memorial song and reading a memorial poem.

Students at most elementary and secondary schools in Busan also held a silent prayer at 10 a.m., while the Gyeongsangnamdo Office of Education issued a pledge to enhance safety in schools.

On Jeju Island, the destination of the sunken ferry, mourners held a memorial ceremony in the center of the city of Jeju and marched towards its port, where they met with survivors of the disaster and bereaved families to jointly call for uncovering the truth behind the ferry sinking. (Yonhap)