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It looks like we have another entry for the “People Reacting Inappropriately To Disasters” contest, as a South Korean male model has come in for fierce criticism after posting a bizarre photo of himself apparently pretending to drown, shortly after a  ferry sank off the coast of South Korea.

The picture, which shows 19-year-old Heo Jae-Hyuk submerged in the bathtub fully clothed, was posted on Instagram in the early hours of Thursday morning, and captioned “A fun game”. The eyes of the world have been on South Korea as the search for survivors of the ferry disaster continues, with almost 300 hundred passengers and crew still remaining unaccounted for.

Heo Jae-Hyuk later said he hadn’t heard about the disaster, or the ongoing attempts to search for survivors trapped in pockets of air inside the sunken ship, until his photo started to attract criticism online.

▼ Bad taste, or just bad timing?

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He apologised and took the photo down, saying he doesn’t have a computer or TV, and so hadn’t seen the news. Netizens were skeptical though, pointing out that the male model uses a smartphone, and has posted photos on social media before of a laptop that belongs to him. “How could someone with a smartphone not have heard about this news?!” asked one commenter.

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The cause of the ferry disaster remains unclear, although it’s been suggested that it may have hit a submerged rock, or turned too sharply. 28 people have been found dead, and as time passes the chances of finding survivors in the water grow ever slimmer. The majority of the missing passengers are teenagers from Danwon High School in Ansan, who were on a school trip to Jeju.

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After apologising, Heo Jae-Hyuk has taken down his profiles on all social networking sites.

Source: Searchina
Top image: Hi! K-Pop, edited by RocketNews24. Other images: Hi! K-Pop, maengho.