Govt liable for botched ferry rescue

SEOUL - A South Korean court ruled on Thursday that the government and the operator of the Sewol ferry, which sank in 2014 killing 304 people mostly school children, must compensate the victims' families.

The ferry was structurally unsound, overloaded and traveling too fast on a turn when it capsized off the southwest coast on April 16, 2014, South Korean investigators said, placing the nation in deep grief for months.

A group of 354 members of the bereaved families of 118 students filed a lawsuit in 2015 against the government and the ferry operator, Chonghaejin Marine.

In a landmark ruling, the Seoul Central District Court awarded the next of kin of each deceased passenger from the Sewol ferry 200 million won ($177,000), a further 40 million won for each of their parents, and smaller sums for other relatives.

It was the first time the court acknowledged the state's liability for the disaster.

Skipper Lee Jun-seok was later sentenced to life in prison and 14 other crew members up to 12 years for their actions, and a Coast Guard patrol boat commander was also jailed for four years for failing to alert passengers to imminent danger.

As the 6,800-ton boat was taking on water, the passengers were told by the crew to stay put while the captain and his colleagues were first to abandon the vessel.

"The commander failed to carry out his duty to protect the lives of people, leaving the passengers waiting for help without knowing the situation," the court said.

The ferry's operator Cheonghaejin was equally liable, the court said, and was ordered to share the costs.

Investigations concluded the disaster was the result of numerous human factors, including an illegal redesign, an overloaded cargo bay and inexperienced crew.

The government previously offered the students' families 470 million won each, but relatives of 116 students and two other passengers refused the compensation and took it to court, seeking around 1 billion won for each victim and a declaration the state was liable.

Afp - Reuters

(China Daily 07/20/2018 page11)