Boss Of South Korea Ferry Tragedy Company Jailed To 10 Years

The boss of the company operating the Sewol ferry, on which more than 300 passengers died when it sank in April, was jailed for ten years Thursday, South Korean media reported.



Kim Han-sik, chief executive officer of Chonghaejin Marine, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and violating maritime safety over the April 16 tragedy, news agency Yonhap said.



Chonghaejin was found to have routinely overloading the Sewol with passengers and cargo despite its balance being affected following an illegal remodeling.



Gwangju District Court also fined 71-year-old Kim 2 million won ($1,900). He was also convicted of embezzling tens of billions of won and accepting tens of millions in kickbacks from subcontractors.



A 15-year prison term had initially been demanded for Kim by the prosecution.



Other company executives received jail sentences ranging from three to six years.



In early November, the son of the Sewol's owner – who committed suicide in July as police searched for him - was convicted of embezzlement.



The ferry's captain was jailed last week for 36 years for negligence in abandoning the Sewol. The chief engineer was sentenced to 30 years for homicide while 13 other crewmembers were given sentences of between five and 20 years.



Of the 476 passengers, 172 were rescued. High schools students on a school trip accounted for 250 of the 304 confirmed dead or missing.



The high proportion of teenagers among the victims further fuelled public outrage over a catalogue of mismanagement by the ship's owners that affected safety standards.



A total of 295 bodies have been recovered and the government has officially ended the search for the nine missing victims due to the threat to divers, two of whom died searching for the remains of victims.



The disaster raised questions about the implementation of safety standards in South Korea.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Seoul-t'ukpyolsi