Sewol ship captain sentenced to life in prison

(Baonghean.vn) - On Tuesday, April 28, after reviewing the appeal, the Korean Court decided to increase the sentence for the captain of the Sewol ferry - Lee Jun Seok to life in prison.

On April 16, 2014, the Sewol ferry sank off the southern island of Jingo. There were 476 passengers on board, including 325 school children. The sinking killed 304 people, including 250 school children. The cause of the sinking was determined to be overloading and incompetence of the crew.

Mr. Lee Jun Seok, captain of the Sewol ferry on April 28. Photo: AFP

In the November 2014 trial of Captain Lee Jun Seok, Mr. Seok was sentenced to 36 years in prison for serious breach of duty as a captain. However, relatives of the victims were outraged that the sentence was too lenient for what Mr. Seok had done. Many lawyers had asked for the death penalty for Mr. Seok for abandoning his passengers.

The families of the victims were extremely angry that the crew members on the ferry, especially Mr. Seok, were the first to board the lifeboats and left the passengers stranded on the ship to their fate. The anger multiplied when it was reported that the crew had ordered the passengers not to move.

It is known that during the process of searching and recovering the bodies, a video recorded on a student's phone showed that when the ferry crashed, the loudspeaker on the ship asked everyone to stay where they were.

The Sewol ferry accident also raised a series of issues such as corruption, safety, slow rescue response, etc. The accident once again sounded a warning bell for authorities when these agencies only focused on economic growth and ignored other issues.

Chu Thanh– according to Le Monde April 28