Updated
South Korean prime minister Chung Hong-won has announced his resignation over the government's response to the April 16 ferry disaster which killed at least 180 people.
The Sewol ferry sank on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the traditional holiday island of Jeju.
"I offer my apology for having been unable to prevent this accident from happening and unable to properly respond to it afterwards," Mr Chung said.
"I believed I, as the prime minister, certainly had to take responsibility and resign."
The Sewol capsized with 476 people on board. More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers from one high school on a field trip, have died or are missing and presumed dead.
The children were told to stay in their cabins, where they waited for further orders.
Rescuers have not found a single survivor since 174 people were pulled to safety on the day of the accident.
[Many] days have passed since the accident, but the screams of families of the missing still keep me up at night.
South Korean prime minister Chung Hong-won
The government, along with almost all other branches of officialdom, has faced fierce criticism over the disaster, and the handling of the rescue operation.
"The latest accident left all South Koreans in great shock and sorrow. [Many] days have passed since the accident, but the screams of families of the missing still keep me up at night," Mr Chung told a nationally televised press conference.
"Dear South Koreans, this is no time to point fingers at each other but a time to complete rescue operations and properly handle its aftermath. I plead with you to help overcome this difficult situation.
"I sincerely hope that South Koreans and families of the Sewol victims will forgive and understand me for being unable to fulfil my obligations until the end. I beg you once again to rally support [for rescue operations]."
Although all hope of finding survivors has been extinguished, there is still anger and deep frustration among relatives of the missing over the recovery operation.
"I wanted to resign earlier but handling the situation was the first priority and I thought that it was a responsible act to help before leaving," Mr Chung said.
"But I've decided to resign now not to be any burden on the administration."
The South Korean president is now considering whether to accept his resignation.
All 15 surviving crew members responsible for sailing the vessel are now in custody and face charges ranging from criminal negligence to abandoning passengers.
The official probe has focused on a long delay by the ship's captain in issuing the evacuation order, as well as on the ferry's overloaded cargo and possible inaccuracies in the passenger headcount.
The widening investigation has also seen travel bans put on eight current and former executives of the Korea Register of Shipping - the body responsible for issuing marine safety certificates.
Angry parents vent frustration
Tempers have frayed over the slow pace of the recovery and frequent changes in information provided by the government, including a claim at one time by a local government that everyone had been rescued.
On Thursday evening, a group of irate parents stormed into the local office of the deputy head of the South Korean coastguard and roughly manhandled him down to the island harbour.
He was kept there most of the night, sitting on the ground, along with coastguard chief Kim Seok-Kyun and marine minister Lee Ju-Young, while the relatives accused them of lying about the recovery operation and demanded they bring in more resources.
Police made no move to intervene and the three made no attempt to get away, reflecting a reluctance to antagonise the relatives at a time of widespread public anger over the official response to the disaster.
Mr Chung has faced criticism from angry parents since the early days of the rescue and recovery operation.
He was booed and someone threw a water bottle at him when he visited grieving parents the day after the disaster.
"How dare you come here with your chin up," one relative screamed at him during the visit.
"Would you respond like this if your own child was in that ship?"
One mother blocked Mr Chung's path as he tried to leave, saying: "Don't run away, Mr Prime Minister. Please tell us what you're planning to do."
Reuters/AFP
Topics: maritime, accidents, disasters-and-accidents, korea-republic-of
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