The Constitutional Court of Korea has rejected a constitutional petition from the families of the victims of the April 2014 Sewol ferry disaster. The families alleged that the South Korean government had failed in its duty to rescue the passengers of the capsized vessel. The court ruled 5-4 to dismiss the claim of state negligence, stating that the petition did not meet the relevant legal requirements. This decision marks the end of a decade-long legal battle by the bereaved families. The petition accused South Korea of violating citizens' fundamental rights to have their lives protected by the state, as it allegedly failed to promptly and effectively rescue passengers until the ferry had completely sunk. The majority opinion of the court argued that since the rescue operation was already concluded before the petition was filed, it deemed the families' claim illegitimate. However, the minority four judges expressed a dissenting opinion, emphasizing the need to recognize the benefit of seeking an exceptional decision to establish state responsibility. The Sewol ferry sinking resulted in 304 deaths or missing individuals and triggered widespread public criticism of the state's disaster management, ultimately leading to the impeachment of then-President Park Geun-hye in 2017.