Nearly 300 people are missing after a ferry capsizes off South Korea

DefJam

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• Jun 21, 2014

• #41

Fugitive's wife arrested over S. Korean ferry disaster

AFP
June 21, 2014, 4:37 pm

Seoul (AFP) - South Korean police on Saturday made apparent headway in the manhunt for a fugitive businessman wanted over April's ferry disaster with the capture of his wife.

Kwon Yun-Ja, 72, was arrested at a flat in the southern suburbs of Seoul following a successful ambush, Yonhap news agency said.

But her husband Yoo Byun-Eun, 73, was not at the site.

YTN TV showed Kwon, her face covered with a dark brimmed hat, being taken into custody at the Incheon Prosecutor's Office.

Investigators want to question her to obtain information that may lead to the capture of her husband.

Yoo is the patriarch of the family behind Chonghaejin Marine Co., which owned and operated the 6,825-tonne Sewol ferry which sank on April 16 with the loss of around 300 lives, most of them schoolchildren.

He is wanted for questioning on possible charges of embezzlement and criminal negligence, as prosecutors investigate the extent to which the Sewol disaster was caused by a lack of safety standards and regulatory violations.

Yoo has no direct stake in Chonghaejin, but his children and close aides control it through a complex web of holding companies.

His wife Kwon was accused of diverting funds from one of Chonghaejin's subsidiaries where she serves as the CEO.

A reward of 500 million won ($490,000) has been offered for information leading to the capture of Yoo and 100 million won for that of his eldest son, Yoo Dae-Kyun.

Last week, thousands of police twice raided the compound of a splinter religious group in pursuit of Yoo but to no avail. Yoo is reportedly the de-facto leader of the church.

Several church followers suspected of helping Yoo evade a nationwide dragnet have also been arrested after he defied an official summons to surrender to prosecutors.

 

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Lumix

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• Jul 9, 2014

• #42

Relatives of South Korean ferry disaster victims weep and jeer at trial

Emotional reaction to video shown in court of captain and others jumping into rescue boat

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 08 July, 2014, 11:14pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 09 July, 2014, 3:07am

Agence France-Presse in Gwangju

Investigators of Gwangju District Court take photos on a ferry at the port of Incheon, South Korea. An investigation was conducted on the cabin and structure of a ferry, which is of the same type with the sunken ship Sewol. Photo: Xinhua

Relatives of victims of South Korea's ferry disaster wept amid angry scenes in court yesterday as prosecutors played video footage of the sinking vessel during the murder trial of the captain and crew.

The video, taken from coastguard boats and helicopters, showed the last moments of the 6,825-tonne Sewol ferry as it listed and then capsized on April 16 with the loss of around 300 lives.

Among the dead were some 250 students from the same high school in Ansan city just south of Seoul.

Dozens of family members were in court in the southwestern city of Gwangju and many wept openly at the scenes of passengers desperately trying to escape the ship.

They also jeered and shouted in anger at the 15 defendants when the video showed close-up shots of the captain and some crew members jumping from the sinking ferry into a rescue boat.

An activist holding a placard reading "confess your sins, find the truth behind the sunken ferry" protests against the government response to the Sewol ferry, as he stands outside Gwangju district court on July 8. Photo: AFP

Captain Lee Joon-seok and three senior crew members are accused of "homicide through wilful negligence" - a charge that can carry the death penalty.

The 11 other crew are being tried on lesser violations of maritime law.

The bulk of the charges arise from the fact that Lee and the others chose to abandon the ferry while hundreds of people were still trapped inside.

They were also condemned for ordering the passengers to remain where they were when the ship began listing.

Before the video footage was shown, the prosecutors had used a model of the Sewol to show where most of the passengers were when it ran into trouble.

In particular they noted the location of many student victims who, on the orders of the crew, had remained in their cabins on the fourth level.

"With timely evacuation efforts, these students could have fled through these exits," one prosecutor said, pointing to the model.

"But almost all of them waited in their cabins and died. We will make it clear that this result was caused by the behaviour of the defendants," he said.

The atmosphere in the court was highly charged. At one point the mother of one student victim rushed out in tears.

And as the court adjourned for lunch, one of the fathers stood and began to harangue the judge.

"The evidence is clear. They are human scum!" the father shouted. "We should just drown them all," he said, pointing to the defendants. "Why do we need more evidence?" There have been some expressions of concern about how fair the trial can be with emotions still running so high.

Yesterday's hearing coincided with the release of a damning report into the Sewol sinking by the state auditor, which said official negligence, corruption and greed had combined in a "man-made disaster".

The ferry owners had placed "monetary gain over passenger safety" while the crew had acted "irresponsibly", said the report, which was the result of a two-month investigation.

It recommended that 11 government officials be put on trial and disciplinary hearings held for some 40 others.

 

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• Jul 23, 2014

• #43

Owner of South Korea ferry that sunk killing 300 is found dead

Police confirm body in orchard is that of Yoo Byung-eun, the fugitive billionaire sought over the deaths of 300 in the April capsize

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 22 July, 2014, 9:55am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 22 July, 2014, 11:02pm

Agence France-Presse in Seoul

Police cordon off the spot where a body confirmed as that of Yoo Byung-eun was found. Photo: AFP

News crews clamour for views of the dead tycoon, who had a US$500,000 reward on his head. Photo: AFP

A badly decomposed body found surrounded by liquor bottles in an orchard last month was that of Yoo Byung-eun, the fugitive billionaire businessman blamed for April's South Korean ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people, police confirmed yesterday.

The body was found in a field of apricot trees in the southern city of Suncheon on June 12, police station chief Wu Hyung-ho said. He said DNA and fingerprint samples taken from the body matched those of Yoo, 73.

Wu said the body was decayed beyond recognition when it was found and a more thorough examination was needed to find how and when he died. An initial investigation showed no evidence that he was murdered.

The dead man was wearing a pair of expensive shoes and a luxury Italian brand Loro Piana winter parka. Also found near him were three empty Korean liquor bottles, a cloth bag and a magnifying glass, Wu said.

The government forensic service took about 40 days to run the DNA tests and Suncheon police said the laboratory would conduct additional tests to find the cause and timing of Yoo's death.

Prosecutors had hunted Yoo since May and offered a US$500,000 reward for tips about him. They believe Yoo owned the ferry via a web of companies and that his alleged corruption may have contributed to its sinking.

The sinking, one of South Korea's deadliest disasters in decades, has caused an outpouring of national grief and renewed scrutiny of public safety. About 100 days after the disaster, 294 bodies have been retrieved but 10 people are still missing.

Prosecutors said on Monday that 139 people had been arrested over the ferry sinking, including all 15 crew members and employees at Chonghaejin, a company that operated the ferry, over suspicions of improper stowage and overloading of cargo.

The crew members face charges of negligence and failing to perform their duties to rescue passengers, with four of them facing homicide charges.

Yoo Byung-eun

Yoo faced allegations of tax evasion, embezzlement and professional negligence. Officials suspect the sinking may have happened because Chonghaejin illicitly gave profits to his family and failed to spend enough money on safety and personnel.

Yoo, head of the now-defunct predecessor of Chonghaejin, allegedly still controlled the company through a complex network of holding companies in which his children and close associates are large shareholders. The government offered a US$100,000 bounty for Yoo's eldest son, and one of his daughters was arrested in France in May.

The predecessor company went bankrupt in the late 1990s but Yoo's family continued to operate ferry businesses under the names of other companies, including one that eventually became Chonghaejin.

Yoo is also a member of a church that many describe as a cult. Yoo's church made headlines in 1987 when 32 people, who critics suspect were church members, were found dead in the attic of a factory near Seoul in what authorities said was a collective murder-suicide pact. Church members have denied involvement.

Yoo was investigated over the deaths after investigations of the dead people's financial transactions showed some of their money went to him.

He was cleared of suspicions that he was behind the suicides because of a lack of evidence, but was convicted on a separate fraud charge.

 

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• Jul 26, 2014

• #44

S. Korea police arrest son of sunken ferry owner

AFP
July 26, 2014, 5:26 am

Seoul (AFP) - South Korean police arrested Friday the fugitive son of a business tycoon who owned the Sewol ferry which sank in April with the loss of around 300 lives, officials said.

Yoo Dae-Kyun, 44, was picked up in a southern suburb of Seoul just three days after his father Yoo Byung-Eun was confirmed dead.

His arrest is expected to boost the official investigation into whether mismanagement by the Yoo family contributed to the ferry disaster.

Yoo Byung-Eun, 73, had been the target of an unprecedented, months-long manhunt involving tens of thousands of police officers and army troops.

His body was found on June 12, lying in a field just outside the city of Suncheon, 300 kilometres (186 miles) south of Seoul.

At first, local police had no idea it was Yoo's body and a nation wide manhunt for the reclusive billionaire had continued for six weeks before DNA and fingerprint evidence revealed the corpse's identity.

State prosecutors had offered a $500,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. For the son, a reward of $100,000 has been offered.

Yoo Byung-Eun was the patriarch of the family that owned and operated the Sewol ferry which sank April 16 with the loss of around 300 lives -- mostly schoolchildren.

Yoo Byung-Eun's wife Kwon Yoon-Ja was arrested last month and their daughter Yoo Som-Na has been fighting an extradition bid in Paris.

Forensic experts said Friday they had been unable to determine the cause of Yoo Byung-Eun's death after examining his body.

The fact that the body was in a police morgue for six weeks while the manhunt was still under way triggered a storm of angry ridicule.

Two senior police officials and a top prosecutor in the case were both dismissed from their posts as a result.

 

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• Jul 30, 2014

• #45

South Korean driver of Sewol owner gives himself up to prosecutors

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 29 July, 2014, 10:05pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 29 July, 2014, 10:05pm

Reuters in Seoul

Relatives of missing passengers of the sunken ferry Sewol and citizens release yellow balloons in memory of the deceased and return of still missing passengers aboard the ship 100 days after the ferry sunk, at a port in Jindo. Photo: AP

The driver of the late owner of the ferry that sunk in South Korea turned himself in yesterday, potentially unlocking the mystery of the man's final days.

Prosecutors in the port city of Incheon said the driver, Yang Hoe-jung, turned himself in at their office, which is leading the investigation into the role of businessman Yoo Byung-un in the sinking of the ferry Sewol.

The structurally defective and heavily overloaded ferry capsized and sank on a routine journey on April 16, killing 304 people, 250 of them teenagers from the same school on a class field trip.

The trial of 15 surviving crew members, including the captain, resumed on Monday with evidence from some of the 75 students who survived South Korea's worst maritime disaster.

The crew members face charges ranging from homicide to negligence for abandoning the ship after telling passengers to remain on board.

Yang is thought by authorities to have been with Yoo, the head of a family that ran a network of companies that included the ferry operator, in the days before his body was found by a farmer in an orchard on June 12.

Police only identified the badly decomposed body as that of Yoo last week, although an autopsy and other extensive testing failed to indicate how he died or came to be in the orchard, forensic experts have said.

The driver was the last among a group of people close to Yoo who had been wanted for allegedly helping him elude South Korea's biggest manhunt.