Court rejects reward payment to man who reported Yoo Byung-eun body

By Kim Se-jeong

A court in Seoul ruled against a man Monday whose 2014 call to police ended the national scale manhunt for Yoo Byung-eun, former chairman of Semo Group.

Yoo was found dead on June 12, 2014 at the man’s farm in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, along with a bag full of socks, underwear and liquor bottles.

The man claimed he deserved 10 million won, one fifth of the entire reward offered to locate Yoo who was on the run, and filed a complaint against the government.

Rejecting his request, the judge said although his call was critical to end the manhunt, he reported to the police without knowing it was Yoo and therefore wasn’t eligible for the reward.

Yoo had been dead for almost 40 days when his body was found, which was almost two months after the ferry sank. Decomposition was so advanced that it took 40 days for forensic experts to confirm it was Yoo.