bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Park Chan-kyong

A South Korean court ruled on Friday that the children of the late owner of the Sewol ferry that sank in 2014, killing over 300 people, should reimburse the government for about US$146 million it incurred in handling the disaster.
The Seoul Central District Court ordered three children who inherited the assets of Yoo Byung-eun, head of ferry operator Chonghaejin Marine Co, to pay 170 billion won to the government, holding the late billionaire responsible for failing to prevent the tragedy.
The 6,800-tonne ship sank off the country’s southwestern coast in 2014, killing 304 people, mostly high school pupils on an excursion, in one of South Korea’s worst maritime disasters.

Yoo, then 73, was found dead in the wild in 2014 as he was being pursued by police for questioning on corruption allegations.
Thousands of police officers were mobilised to hunt down Yoo, who doubled as a religious leader.
Investigations concluded the disaster was the result of numerous human factors. The ferry was illegally redesigned to accommodate more passengers, the cargo hold was overloaded, and it was being controlled by inexperienced crew at the time of the accident.
Prosecutors argued that corruption and mismanagement in the company also led to poor safety standards.
South Korea court orders state compensate victims of 2014 ferry sinking
Yoo was “negligent in his duty to ensure the ship was being operated safely”, the court said.
It noted that he had approved the illegal redesign of the ferry and let company employees habitually overload the ship with cargo items that were not safely tied down to the floor by ropes.

The Sewol sinking dealt a crushing blow to then president Park Geun Hye, who was ousted from power and jailed in 2017 following sweeping street protests over a massive corruption scandal.
Many people are still angry at the government’s flawed search-and-rescue operations at that time and alleged attempts to cover up the truth behind the disaster.


Malaysia imposes anti-dumping duties on Chinese, Indian steel and iron

South Korea to improve concrete barricades after tragic Jeju Air crash

South Korea bans pork from Germany after outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease

4 snake-themed South Korean travel destinations to visit in 2025 Year of the Snake

South Korea

Sewol ferry disaster: owner’s heirs must pay South Korean government US$146m

South Korean rescue boats and fishing boats approach the sinking South Korean ferry Sewol in the waters off Jindo, South Korea, on April 16, 2014. More than 300 people died, mostly school pupils. Photo: AP

In this Friday, March 24, 2017 photo, the partially lifted sunken ferry Sewol, center, is ready for transport in waters off Jindo, South Korea. South Korean efforts to bring a sunken, 6,800-ton ferry back to land cleared an obstacle on Friday after divers cut off a vehicle ramp that had been dangling from the ship and hindering efforts to raise it. (Suh Myung-gon/Yonhap via AP, File)

epa06758854 Workers of the Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. work at a port in Mokpo, 410 kilometers southwest of Seoul, South Korea, 24 May 2018. The ferry sunk off the southwestern coast on 16 April 2014, killing 304 people onboard, most of them high school students on an excursion. An investigation into the tragedy is still ongoing. EPA-EFE/JEON HEON-KYUN

Closure for the relatives? Raised South Korean ferry Sewol arrives at port

The wreck of the Sewol ferry arrives at a port in Mokpo. Photo: AFP

Police walk in front of the wreck of the Sewol ferry after it arrived at a port in Mokpo on March 31, 2017. The salvaged wreck of South Korea's Sewol ferry finally reached port on March 31, nearly three years after setting out on a doomed voyage that killed more than 300 people. / AFP PHOTO / Ed JONES

epa05874687 A handout photo made available by the South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) shows families (L-R) of three missing Cho Eun-Hwa, Huh Da-Yun, Yang Seun-Jin, looking at the retrieved Sewol ferry on a semisubmersible transport vessel in the waters near Jindo, South Korea, 28 March 2017. The Sewol ferry, which sank near Jindo on 16 April 2014, will be moved to Mokpo harbor. At least 295 people died in the sinking, and nine people are still missing. Most of the victims were high school students on a school excursion. EPA/MINISTRY OF OCEANS AND FISHERIES HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Raised Sewol ferry loaded onto transport vessel, completing most difficult phase of its recovery

The wreck of the Sewol ferry tied between two barges is placed onto a submersible vessel. Photo: AP

Sewol ferry captain murdered 304 passengers by abandoning them, court told

The South Korean Sewol ferry (left) is seen sinking in the sea off Jindo. Photo: Reuters

South Korea court orders US$177,000 compensation to victims of 2014 Sewol ferry disaster

It was the first time the court acknowledged the state’s liability for one of the nation’s worst maritime disasters

The ship sank in waters off southwestern South Korea on April 16, 2014, claiming the lives of 304 people, most of them students on a school trip, in one of the nation’s worst maritime disasters. File photo: AP

News

Asia

East Asia


The Sewol ferry sank in 2014, killing 304 people, in one of South Korea’s worst maritime disasters
The children of the billionaire ferry owner have been ordered to repay the government for the costs it incurred in the disaster



The Sewol ferry sank in 2014, killing 304 people, in one of South Korea’s worst maritime disasters.


South Korea ferry disaster

Sewol ferry disaster: owner’s heirs must pay South Korean government US$146m

The Sewol ferry sank in 2014, killing 304 people, in one of South Korea’s worst maritime disasters The children of the billionaire ferry owner have been ordered to repay the government for the costs it incurred in the disaster

The Sewol ferry sank in 2014, killing 304 people, in one of South Korea’s worst maritime disasters

The children of the billionaire ferry owner have been ordered to repay the government for the costs it incurred in the disaster