South Korean Prosecutors Demand Death Penalty for Ferry Captain

Bloomberg News

South Korean prosecutors today demanded the death penalty for the captain of the Sewol ferry that sank in April, killing more than 300 people in the country's worst maritime disaster in more than four decades.

Captain Lee Joon Seok deliberately avoided issuing an evacuation order because he was worried the passengers, mostly high school students, would hamper his escape and that of his crew, chief prosecutor Park Jae Eok said at a court in Gwangju, about 160 miles (260 kilometers) south of Seoul.

The prosecution also demanded life sentences for three other crew members and 15-to-30-year sentences for 11 more. The court is expected to hand down its verdict next month, said court spokesman Hahn Jee Hyung.

'This is a demand for a very strong punishment,' said Koog Joong Don, a lawyer who attended today's trial who provides legal advice to families of the victims. 'Lee and the crew had the power to determine the fate of their passengers, yet they failed to save 304 lives. Prosecutors must have considered that.'

Lee previously denied the homicide charge that he and three other crew members face. He and other defendants said that they were shocked when the Sewol began sinking and they couldn't do more to save the passengers because the ferry had already capsized too much, Hahn said June 11 in an e-mail.

Public Backlash

The sinking sparked a public backlash against the government for what South Korean President Park Geun Hye called a failed rescue operation. She vowed in May to disband the coast guard and apologized to the nation in a televised address.

'I'm deeply disappointed in the prosecutors,' Yoo Jeom Rim, who lost her daughter in the disaster, said outside the courtroom. 'Prosecutors should have asked for death for at least four of the crew.'

Park said the actions of the crew were 'like murder,' days after the April 16 sinking off the country's southwest coast. Park saw her approval rating plunge in the months after the sinking as public grief turned to anger toward the government over the rescue operation. Only 172 people on the ferry were rescued, and divers are still searching for the bodies of 10 missing people.

'I feel heavy in the chest as I question what punishment is reasonable for the defendant and what punishment could ease the anger shared by families and people.' Lee's Attorney Lee Kwang Jae said in court today. 'I know that mercy is difficult because so many lives were lost.'

The Sewol carried twice the permitted amount of cargo and lacked sufficient ballast, prosecutor Park said today. He said ferry operator Chonghaejin Marine Co. altered the ferry to accommodate more passengers and cargo after buying the vessel in 2011.

In July, South Korean authorities said they found the body of Yoo Byung Eun, the tycoon believed to have controlled Chonghaejin. Prosecutors have also indicted company executives.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sam Kim in Seoul at skim609@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rosalind Mathieson at rmathieson3@bloomberg.net Andy Sharp, Andrew Davis