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South Korea ferry disaster: Cruise boss found dead South Korea ferry disaster: Body of fugitive billionaire ferry boss found in a field
(about 1 hour later)
South Korean police have found the body of a fugitive billionaire businessman sought over April's ferry disaster that left more than 300 people dead or missing. South Korean police have confirmed they have found the body of the fugitive billionaire businessman who owned the ferry that killed more than 300 people in April.
Police officer Wu Hyung-ho told a televised news conference that the body was found in an agricultural field in the southern South Korean city of Suncheon on June 12. Authorities found the body of 23-year-old Yoo Byung-eun in an agricultural field in the southern South Korean city of Suncheon in June.
He said results of DNA and fingerprint tests showed they matched those of Yoo Byung-eun. The businessman and his son went missing shortly after the disaster happened, sparking a media frenzy in South Korea and a mass manhunt, with authorities offering a $50,000 (£29,000) reward for information about his whereabouts at the time.
The officer said the body was already decayed too much beyond recognition when it was found and more thorough investigation is needed to find how and when he died. Mr Yoo’s body was found wearing a pair of expensive shoes and a costly Italian-made jacket, with three empty bottles of local Korean alcohol, a bag and a magnifying glass around him.
The body was wearing a pair of expensive shoes and a costly Italian-made jacket. Also found near him were three empty Korean local liquor bottles, a bag and a magnifying glass, according to police. Police officer Wu Hyung-ho said the body of Mr Yoo was already decayed beyond recognition, but the results of DNA and fingerprint tests confirmed it was that of the missing billionaire, and more thorough investigation would need to be carried out in order to find out how and when he died.
Authorities believe Yoo was the owner of the ferry and that his alleged corruption may have contributed to its sinking. The disaster led to a period of national mourning across South Korea, with angry relatives of those who had died protesting against the handling of the rescue mission by authorities. Of the 488 people on board, over 300 died when the ferry sank.
The sinking, one of South Korea's deadliest disasters in decades, has caused an outpouring of national grief, and the country is undergoing national soul searching about public safety. Mr Yoo’s alleged corruption was thought to have contributed to the sinking of the Sewol ferry, and he was wanted on allegations of tax evasion, embezzlement and professional negligence.
About 100 days after the disaster, 294 dead bodies have been retrieved but 10 people are still missing. The tycoon was thought to still be in control of the ferry’s operator, Chonghaejin, despite having been the boss of the company’s predecessor that went bankrupt in the late 1990s. Mr Yoo was thought to be in control of Chonghaejin through a complex web of holding companies in which his children and close associates are large shareholders.
Police and prosecutors have been seeking Yoo for weeks and had offered a 500,000 US dollar (£293,000) reward for tips about him. His son, Yoo Dae-Kyun, is still on the run with a $100,000 (£59,000) government reward offered for information of his whereabouts, while many of the billionaire’s family have been arrested, including his wife Kwon Yoon-ja, and his daughter who is currently fighting an extradition bid from France.
Yoo, head of the now-defunct predecessor 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 associates are large shareholders. A total of 294 dead bodies have now been retrieved from the sunken ferry, though 10 people are still missing. Last month a new report showed that the ferry had been licensed on falsified documents, and was found to be carrying double its cargo load.
The government offered a 100,000 US dollar (£59,000) bounty for Yoo's eldest son, and one of his daughters was arrested in France in May. Mr Yoo was a member of a controversial church near Seoul that has been called a cult and linked to a 1987 mass suicide. The businessman was originally thought to be holed up in the church’s compound, but he was not found when police searched the area in May. Members of the church, who were said to have called Mr Yoo “Moses,” tried to hold police off from searching the compound at the time, with hundreds of followers reportedly threatening to die as martyrs.
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 became Chonghaejin. Additional reporting from PA
Yoo was also a member of a church that critics and defectors say is a cult. The 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 involvement.
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.
PA