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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 4, 2014)
Page 16 n THE ASIAN REPORTER ASIA / PACIFIC August 4, 2014 Body of missing South Korean shipping tycoon found FUGITIVE FOUND. Relatives of missing pas- sengers of the sunken Sewol ferry and fellow citizens release yellow balloons in memory of the deceased and for the return of still-missing passengers aboard the ship 100 days after the ferry sunk, at a port in Jindo, South Korea, on July 24, 2014. South Korean police say a badly decomposed body found sur- rounded by liquor bottles in a field last month was that of a fugitive billionaire businessman blamed for the April ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people. (AP Photo/Hyung Min-woo, Yonhap) By Hyung-jin Kim The Associated Press S EOUL, South Korea — South Korean police say they have found the body of the fugitive billionaire businessman sought over the April ferry disaster that left more than 300 people dead or missing. The body was found in an agricultural field in the southern South Korean city of Suncheon on June 12, local police station chief Wu Hyung-ho told a news conference. He said DNA and fingerprint samples taken from the body matched those of Yoo Byung-eun. Wu said the body had decayed beyond recognition when it was found and a more thorough examination was needed to find out how and when he died. An initial investigation showed there was no evidence that he was murdered, Wu said. The body was wearing a pair of costly shoes and a luxurious Italian brand Loro Piana winter parka. Also found near him were three empty Korean local liquor bottles, a cloth bag, and a magnifying glass, according to Wu. The state-run National Forensic Service, which conducted DNA tests, said it will run more tests on the body, but declined to provide further information. Suncheon police officers, requesting anonymity citing department rules, said the additional tests were aimed at finding the cause and timing of Yoo’s death. Police and prosecutors have been seeking Yoo for weeks and had offered a $500,000 reward for tips about him. They believe Yoo was the owner of the ferry and that his alleged corruption may have contributed to its sinking. The sinking, one of South Korea’s dead- liest disasters in decades, has caused an outpouring of national grief, and the coun- try is undergoing national soul searching about public safety. About 100 days after the disaster, 294 dead bodies have been retrieved, but 10 people are still missing. Prosecutors say 139 people have been arrested over the ferry sinking, including all 15 crew members tasked with navi- gating the ship, and employees at 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, head of the now-defunct prede- cessor of the ferry’s current operator, Chonghaejin, allegedly still controlled the company through a complex web of holding companies in which his children and close became Chonghaejin. Yoo is also a member of a church that critics and defectors say is 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 involve- ment. Yoo was investigated over the deaths after a probe into the dead people’s financial transactions showed some of their money was funnelled 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. Associated Press writer Jung-yoon Choi contributed to this report. associates are large shareholders. The government offered a $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 q Son of South Korea sunken ferry owner detained SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean news agency says the eldest son of the sunken ferry owner has been detained by police after two months on the run. Yonhap News Agency said Yoo Dae-gyun was picked up from an office south of Seoul, just three days after his billionaire father was found dead. Authorities have sought Yoo, a major shareholder in the company that operated the ferry that sank in April, along with his 73-year-old father, who had founded the original ferry operation. Prosecutors say the Yoo family’s alleged corruption may have contributed to the April 16 disaster that left more than 300 people dead.
