The families of the Sewol ferry victims acquiesced to the agreement reached by the Saenuri Party and the New Politics Alliance for Democracy on the special Sewol bill Friday. Their assent brought an end to the protracted disputes over the bill, which provides for a special investigation into the disaster that left more than 300 people dead, compensation for the victims, and other things.

The compromise bill stipulates a 17-member truth commission headed by a chairman selected by the victims’ families. The commission’s mandate runs for a maximum of 18 months.

While the truth commission does not have the power to issue subpoenas or indict, a special prosecutor with such authorities will conduct a separate investigation. The special prosecutor will be appointed by President Park Geun-hye from two nominees chosen by a nominating committee. While the victims’ families will not be directly involved in the special prosecutor’s nomination, the Saenuri Party will consult the families and will exclude anyone they object to. The special prosecutor also has an 18-month mandate.

The National Assembly came to a grinding halt as the two major rival parties locked horns over the bill and the Sewol ferry disaster threatened to become a black hole, consuming all politics. The National Assembly returned to normalcy in October, after more than 150 days in a virtual coma.

To their credit, the Saenuri Party and the NPAD were able to keep their promise to settle the special Sewol bill issue by the end of the October. In fact, the compromise bill was finalized in a dramatic manner, completed in the evening of Oct. 31. It involved numerous rounds of negotiations between the two rival political parties as well as consultations with the families of Sewol victims.

Although the families have acquiesced to the agreement hammered out between the two main political parties, they made it clear that they intend to keep a close watch on the ensuing developments. One of the concerns expressed during Sunday’s news conference was the bill’s failure to specify a date by which the truth commission should be established.

For the families, the fear that the government may drag its feet in the investigation is a not an unreasonable one, borne out by the proceedings of previous attempts to look into the ferry disaster of April 16. The National Assembly probe stumbled over the selection of witnesses, while investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office and the audit by the Board of Audit and inspection failed to satisfactorily discover the causes for its sinking and determine why the authorities failed to rescue those trapped inside the ferry.

The victims’ families will not be alone in scrutinizing the investigations; the rest of the nation will be watching, too. The truth commission and the special prosecutor should leave no stone unturned in their probe into the tragedy that stunned the nation with its senseless deaths. For the families whose loved ones were taken away unexpectedly, full investigation and prosecution will provide a closure to their nightmarish grief. Only when we know the truth of what happened and those responsible are held accountable, can we make progress as a nation and prevent such accidents from happening again.