Sewol captain gets life in prison

Judges sit to preside over verdicts for the sunken ferry Sewol's crew members who are charged with negligence and abandonment of passengers in the disaster, at the Gwangju High Court in Gwangju, Tuesday. / AP-Yonhap

By Lee Kyung-min

Lee Joon-seok, the captain of the sunken ferry Sewol, waits for verdicts at the Gwangju High Court in Gwangju, Tuesday. / Yonhap

An appeals court increased Sewol ferry captain Lee Joon-seok's sentence to life in prison on Tuesday.

Overturning a lower court ruling that acquitted Lee of murder, the Gwangju High Court convicted him of murdering 304 passengers because he deserted the ship without doing anything to save them.

The court ruled that Lee failed to instruct passengers to leave the sinking ferry, which resulted in their deaths off the Jindo coast in April last year.

"Lee was only interested in saving himself instead of looking out for the passengers on board whose safety solely depended upon the captain's instructions in such an emergency," a judge said.

Unlike the district court, which recognized Lee's claims that he instructed crew to evacuate the passengers, the high court said evidence did not support this.

"There is not enough evidence to corroborate his claims because no nearby rescue effort was carried out at the time," the judge said. "If they were indeed instructed, it would have resulted in a swift rescue effort. The Coast Guard and the ferry awaiting the rescue operation nearby had no record of any instruction from the Sewol."

The court also dismissed crew members' claims that they heard the captain's evacuation orders.

"Their testimonies lack credibility, and thus had no impact in acquitting Lee of the charges," the court said. "It is highly likely that they lied to avoid incriminating themselves. The court deems the testimony of the lowest-ranking crew member truthful for admitting that there were no instructions whatsoever."

The court also overturned the murder conviction for the chief engineer, identified only as Park, and reduced his sentence from 30 years' jail to 10 years.

The prison terms of 13 other crew members were reduced to between 18 months and 12 years.

"Lee was required to take charge in such a situation," the judge said. "It was his right and his duty as a captain. His failure resulted in the deaths of many of the high school students, whose families' hearts are broken to this day.

"To prevent any similar tragedy from recurring, a harsh sentence is inevitable."

The government last week approved a plan to salvage the ferry without breaking it up.

The operation will start as early as September, at an estimated cost of 100-150 billion won ($92-139 million) over 12-18 months.

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