Semo Group affiliates raided

By Kim Da-ye

Yoo Byung-eun

Investigators raided ten offices and houses linked to businesses of former Semo Group Chairman Yoo Byung-eun, the de facto owner of the operator of the sunken ferry Sewol, the prosecution announced Thursday.

The search is the latest in a series of raids on affiliates with the group in a widening investigation to uncover illegal deals that might have contributed to the maritime disaster.

The Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office also sought an arrest warrant for Song Gook-bin, the president of Dapanda, a Semo Group unit distributing health supplements and cosmetics. He could be the first to be put into custody among close aides to Yoo if the warrant is approved.

Dapanda holds a 16.2 percent stake in Chonhaeji, the largest shareholder of Chonghaejin Marine, the operator of the ferry Sewol.

Among raided places are an office of Onnara in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, an office of Saemuri in Incheon and the homes of their presidents, Byeon Gi-choon and Hwang Ho-eun.

Onnara sells dairy products produced from farms on Jeju Island allegedly owned by the Evangelical Baptist Church, known here as a “salvation sect,” the religious group founded by Yoo. Saemuri is among the shareholders of Semo, the main affiliate of Semo Group.

While the Incheon prosecution investigates Semo Group, a joint prosecution-police task force dug further into the causes of the accident. The task force is expected to seek arrest warrants for two Chonghaejin Marine employees responsible for checking safety standards because risky modifications to the Sewol and overloading are being considered as major causes of the vessel capsizing.

The task force estimates that the 6,800-ton Sewol could only maintain stability with 987 tons of cargo, but it was loaded with more than 3,600 tons including 180 vehicles.

A director in charge of safety, identified as Ahn, and Kim, a team leader of the logistics division, were taken into custody Wednesday evening on suspicion of frequently overloading the ferry although they knew that the modifications to the ship to load more cargo had damaged its stability.

The charges against them include accidental homicide and violations of the Ship Safety Law.

According to Yonhap News, the first mate of the Sewol, who abandoned ship before the passengers along with other crewmembers, told the task force that he asked Chonghaejin Marine on April 15 to stop overloading the vessel because of the danger of sinking. The Sewol departed Incheon the same day and capsized off the southwest coast the next morning.

The first mate, identified as Kang, apparently gave multiple warnings, while Captain Lee Joon-seok also pointed out the issue of overloading to the company, Yonhap said. Both were ignored.

Chonghaejin Marine has made more money from transporting cargo than passengers. According to its financial statements, the firm made 19.5 billion won from cargo in 2013, compared to 12.5 billion won from passengers.

The task force also suspects that stacked containers loaded onto the Sewol weren’t tethered tight enough, and when it maneuvered they shifted, causing it to capsize.

The ferry operator allegedly had the Sewol carry only a small amount of ballast water, kept in tanks at the bottom of the ship to help maintain stability, so that more cargo could be loaded. This made the ship higher in the water and shifted its center of gravity.

The overloading became a fatal problem combined with the dangerous modifications done to the ferry.

In an interview with a local broadcasting station, the wife of the Sewol’s full-time captain, who was on holiday when the accident took place, said that her husband had not wanted to be in charge of the vessel because he was concerned about the modifications.

She added that the captain sailed the vessel from Japan to Korea when Chonghaejin Marine bought it, and had no problems at that time.

Along with the task force’s investigation, the Board of Audit and Inspection launched a special probe into the government departments involved in the Sewol accident including the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the Coast Guard and the Maritime Affairs and Port Administration.