President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Park Geun-hye formally apologised on Monday for a ferry disaster last month that killed about 300 passengers, mostly school children, and said she would break up the coast guard because it had failed in its rescue mission.

  South Korean rescue workers operate near floats where the capsized passenger ship Sewol sank during the search and rescue operation in the sea off Jindo, at sunset April 22, 2014 (photo: Reuters)

The coast guard's rescue duties will be transferred to a national emergency safety agency to be set up and the national police will take over its investigative function, Park said in a televised national address.

The Sewol, with 476 passengers and crew members on board, capsized and sank on April, killing at least 286 people. Eighteen people remain missing after South Korea's worst civilian maritime disaster in 20 years. Only 172 people were rescued, with the rest presumed to have drowned.

Park has apologized in person to many family members of the victims but her administration has faced continued criticism and nationwide anger for its handling of the disaster, when a faster initial response could have saved more lives.

She said the coast guard had not only failed in its search and rescue duty but that, in its current form, it would be unable to prevent another large-scale disaster.

All 15 surviving crew members were indicted last week, including the captain and three senior crew members on homicide charges. The remaining 11 crew were also indicted for negligence.  

Reuters