Seven hours may have sealed the fate of South Korea's beleaguered President Park Geun-hye. That was the time between the first news reports that the Sewol ferry carrying hundreds of children was sinking off the nation's southern coast on April 16, 2014, and her first TV appearance that day.

The tragedy, which claimed the lives of 304 people - many of them children from one high school - continues to gnaw at the nation's consciousness, especially because a rescue effort was widely seen as botched.

A lack of information on Park's whereabouts and actions during that time has fueled conspiracy theories which have re-emerged during the investigation into a scandal that is poised to bring down her presidency.