Badly decomposed body found in South Korea is fugitive ferry tycoon, say police

Businessman Yoo Byung-un headed family that owns operator of Sewol ferry which sank in April, killing 300

The Guardian, Agencies, Tuesday 22 July 2014

Policemen transport a stretcher with a body believed to be that of Yoo
Byung-un Photograph: Yonhap/Reuters

South Korean police said on Tuesday that a body found last month in the south of the country belonged to a fugitive businessman who headed the family that owned the operator of a ferry that capsized in April, killing more than 300 people.

Police said at a press conference that a badly decomposed body found on June 12 had been identified by DNA evidence as well as fingerprints as that of Yoo Byung-un, who had been the subject of the country's largest manhunt.

The discovery ended a massive, months-long manhunt for the 73-year-old billionaire whose family owns the Sewol ferry operator, Chonghaejin Marine Co.

The heavily decomposed corpse was recovered on June 12 from a plum field in Suncheon, a city 300 kilometres (186 miles) south of Seoul.

Tests matched the DNA of the body to Yoo's elder brother, leading police to believe the body was that of the reclusive billionaire.Yoo went on the run shortly after the 6,825-tonne Sewol capsized and sank on April 16 with 476 people on board, including 325 high school students.

The number of confirmed dead currently stands at 294, with 10 victims still unaccounted for.

The ferry disaster stunned South Korea and unleashed widespread public anger, as it emerged that incompetence, corruption and greed had all contributed to the scale of the disaster.

President Park Geun-Hye and her administration have been bitterly criticised for their response to the tragedy.

The captain and 14 surviving crew members are currently on trial, some of them on charges of wilful homicide which carry the death penalty.

A summons was issued for Yoo shortly after the sinking, but he refused to surrender to police and eventually went on the run.

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

Yoo was wanted for questioning on possible charges of embezzlement and criminal negligence, related to regulatory violations.

Many of his family members have been arrested, including his wife and his brother. A daughter is fighting an extradition bid from Paris.

Earlier this month, South Korean prosecutors filed embezzlement charges against his 71-year-old wife, Kwon Yun-Ja.

The charges were unrelated to the ferry sinking, and involved the alleged embezzlement of money from a splinter religious group established by Kwon's father.

In June, thousands of police officers conducted a raid on a major church complex looking for Yoo.