SEOUL, South Korea — An appeals court on Tuesday reduced the prison sentence given to the head of the company that operated the Sewol ferry, which sank last year off South Korea’s southwestern coast, killing more than 300 people.
The High Court in the city of Gwangju lowered Kim Han-sik’s sentence to seven years from 10 years. Mr. Kim, 72, the chief executive of Chonghaejin Marine Company, had received the 10-year sentence from a lower court in November after being convicted of accidental homicide and embezzlement.
The presiding High Court judge, Seo Kyong-hwan, said Tuesday that he had decided to reduce Mr. Kim’s sentence after considering the lighter punishments given to other defendants in connection with the April 2014 sinking of the Sewol, one of South Korea’s worst disasters in decades. Investigators found that the ferry had been dangerously overloaded, among other safety violations, and that the family that controlled Chonghaejin Marine had stolen funds that could have been used to make the ship safer. Mr. Kim and others were convicted of helping the family embezzle the funds.
Most of the 304 people killed in the ferry sinking were high school students on a field trip. The ship’s captain, Lee Jun-seok, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison last month for fleeing the ship without trying to help the passengers.
No comments:
Post a Comment