--- description: The captain of the ferry that capsized Wednesday off the southern coast of South Korea, leaving nearly 300 people missing, apologized on TV. title: Captain of Capsized South Korea Ferry Apologizes on Korean TV image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73f15b48873ef7e4/69868adc06f2c14a7c32e691/south-korean-ferry-sinking.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [South Korea](/tag/south-korea/) ## South Korea Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Captain of Ferry That Capsized Off South Korea 'Really Sorry'  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 17, 2014 3:44 PM CUT  Coast guard members search for passengers near a South Korean ferry that capsized on its way to Jeju island from Incheon on April 16, 2014. Coast guard members search for passengers near a South Korean ferry that capsized on its way to Jeju island from Incheon on April 16, 2014.Dong-A Ilbo—AFP/Getty Images  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 17, 2014 3:44 PM CUT The captain of a ferry that [capsized Wednesday](http://time.com/66170/sewol-south-korea-ferry/ "undefined") off the southern South Korean coast [apologized](http://abcnews.go.com/International/deeply-ashamed-ferry-captain-abandon-ship/story?id=23357650 "undefined") Thursday for his role in the incident that left at least 14 dead and 282 missing. “I am really sorry and deeply ashamed,” Captain Lee Joon-seok said during a coast guard investigative interview that appeared on South Korean television Thursday, ABC News reports. “I don’t know what to say.” Lee, who was reportedly one of the first people to evacuate the sinking ferry, faces possible criminal charges over the incident. Fourteen people have been found dead while another 179 have been rescued from the vessel. Another 282 passengers — many of them students on a high school trip — are still missing, Reuters [reports](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/17/us-korea-ship-idUSBREA3F01Y20140417 "undefined"). Divers are still searching for survivors as some hope that still-missing passengers may be alive in air-filled pockets inside the vessel. \[[ABC News](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/17/us-korea-ship-idUSBREA3F01Y20140417 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/66730/ferry-captain-south-korea/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/66730/ferry-captain-south-korea/"},"headline":"Captain of Ferry That Capsized Off South Korea 'Really Sorry'","datePublished":"2014-04-17T15:44:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:21:46.752Z","description":"Lee Joon-seok apologizes to survivors and relatives after the Sewol capsized off South Korea Wednesday, leaving at least 14 dead and more than 280 unaccounted for. Divers are still searching for survivors that may be trapped inside the vessel","url":"https://time.com/66730/ferry-captain-south-korea/","keywords":["South Korea","Transportation","Accident","Disaster"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73f15b48873ef7e4/69868adc06f2c14a7c32e691/south-korean-ferry-sinking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73f15b48873ef7e4/69868adc06f2c14a7c32e691/south-korean-ferry-sinking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SKOREA-ACCIDENT-BOATaCoast guard members search for passengers near a South Korean ferry that capsized on its way to Jeju island from Incheon on April 16, 2014.","caption":"Coast guard members search for passengers near a South Korean ferry that capsized on its way to Jeju island from Incheon on April 16, 2014.","creditText":"Dong-A Ilbo—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/south-korea/","name":"South Korea"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/66730/ferry-captain-south-korea/","name":"Captain of Ferry That Capsized Off South Korea 'Really Sorry'"}}]}] ```