Supreme Court upholds life sentence against Sewol captain

On Thursday when the national college entrance exam of in Korea took place, the Supreme Court upheld the life sentence to Lee Jun-seok (70), the captain of the ferry Sewol that sank off the southwest coast in April last year, on the ground of homicide. In fact, had the second graders of Danwon High School (250 students including four missing), the victims of the tragic sinking, been alive, it would have been the big test day that they would have been much looking forward to.

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The en banc of the Supreme Court (Chief Justice Kim So-yeong) unanimously decided to confirm the original verdict of the Supreme Court, which imposed a life sentence on Lee during the trial on the 15 crewmen on the ferry Sewol. It was the first verdict of "homicide by omission" rendered in Korea on loss of lives that have occurred by the failure of a person responsible for disaster management to fulfill his duty of rescuing potential victims. Lee was on top of the situation with absolute authority as the person in charge, but he chose to escape without ordering the passengers to exit the ship. This can be likened to drowning the passengers, the Supreme Court said.

The court has found that Lee gave up his role as captain fully and deliberately, citing his sheer negligence to the safe of the passengers. He escaped the ship without giving the order to abort the ship despite the ready availability of the public announcement system at the steering house as well as his decision not to take any rescue measure and hide inside a navy rescue vessel incognito even after the escape. Also taken into account was the fact that he dismissed Jindo VTSs request to make a judgment on whether the passengers escaped. The court interpreted Lees action as willful negligence that goes beyond prejudging the death of the passengers. As I realized that Lee was absolutely indifferent to the safety of his passengers, I feel little sympathy for him, if not none at all. I hope the Supreme Courts decision will give solace to the victims of the incident, the prosecutor who investigated the case said.

However, the court has found not guilty of murder the three other sailors by the opinion of the majority, including chief mate Kang Won-sik (43), second mate Kim Young-ho (48) and chief engineer Park Gi-ho, who were indicted on charges of homicide along with the captain. The court said that the three men were not in a position to act on their own without the orders from the captain. Regarding this, Chief Justices Park B o-young, Kim So-yeong, and Park Sang-ok voiced the opinion of the minority, however, saying, Kang and Kim were in the steering house with Lee, and they had the duty to lead rescue operations on behalf of the captain.

The 180 seats in the grand courtroom were occupied soon as the audience streamed in the room including some 30 bereaved family members of the Sewol victims in yellow jackets with the yellow ribbon printed on them. At the Suwon District Court in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, where most of the bereaved families live, the trial was broadcast in real time. I believe the kids in heaven are praying to give strength to their friends, said Hong Yeong-mi, the mother of Lee Jae-wook, one of the second-grader victims. It was heart-breaking to see students go for the test this morning. If my son were here, I would pack him a lunch box for good luck, said a mother surnamed Kim (46), who lost her eldest son in the tragic accident.