South Korea PM resigns over ferry disaster

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won announced his resignation on Sunday morning, apologizing on national television "on behalf of the government for the many problems that arose during the first response and the subsequent rescue operation".

"During the search process, the government took inadequate measures and disappointed the public," Chung said. "I should take responsibility for everything as the prime minister, but the government can assume no more. So I will resign as prime minister."

Chung Hong-won made a call to population to stand united.

"This is not the time for blaming each other but for finishing the rescue operation and dealing with the accident," he said. "In order to get over these difficult times, I ask the citizens for help."

188 bodies were so far retrieved from the Sewol ferry that sunk on April 16 and other 144 people are still missing. This is the biggest disaster in recent South Korean history.