Seoul -
The chief executive of a South Korean ferry operator was jailed for 10 years on Thursday for involuntary manslaughter over a sinking that killed more than 300 people this year, a news report said.
Kim Han Sik, chief of the Chonghaejin Marine Company, “remodelled the ship and overloaded it with cargo in an effort to overcome the company's deficits”, judge Yim Jung Yeob of the district court in the southern city of Gwangju was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.
Kim kept operating the refurbished vessel “despite being briefed that the ship's ability to balance itself was compromised”, Yim said.
The chief executive, 71, was also convicted of violating maritime safety laws, embezzling tens of billions of won (tens of millions of dollars) and taking tens of millions of won in further kickbacks from subcontractors.
The court handed down a fine of 2 million won as well as the prison sentence, Yonhap reported.
“Kim also caused losses to the company through embezzlement and professional malpractice and transferred secret funds to the family of Yoo Byung Eun,” Yim was quoted as saying.
The elderly Yoo Byung Eun, owner of the Chonghaejin Marine Company, was found dead in a field in early June, as investigators probed suspected financial and safety violations at the company. The cause of death was not determined.
His eldest son Yoo Dae Gyun received three years in prison in early November for embezzling 7.39 billion won (6.79 million dollars) from the his father's company and six other affiliates between May 2002 and December 2013.
Two brothers of the senior Yoo and 10 of his aides were convicted of a range of corporate crimes in the same trial.
The Sewol's captain, Lee Joon Seok, was jailed for 36 years on November 11 for dereliction of duty, but was found not guilty of murder.
Three other crew were sentenced to 15, 20 and 30 years, respectively, on related charges.
The Sewol sank on April 16 on the way from Incheon to Jeju Island off the south-west of the peninsula. Rescuers recovered 295 bodies were recovered, with the remaining nine missing presumed dead.
Most were teenagers on a school outing.
In Thursday's hearing, the court also handed prison sentences from three to six years to other Chonghaejin Marine executives. -
Sapa-dpa