Sinking of MV Sewol — National mourning · 215

Fourteen crew members received prison terms. Lee’s life sentence for homicide by wilful negligence — fleeing without an evacuation order — is the lead criminal result. Chonghaejin and associated companies faced separate proceedings. Yoo Byung-eun, the owner figure sought by police, was found dead in June 2014; identification was announced in July. 215 Chonghaejin’s group structure was partly mapped; Yoo’s death cut a criminal thread. Keep Sinking of MV Sewol with “National mourning” and 16 from 2014. Evidence was sufficient for a life sentence. It was not sufficient to end argument about the state.

Investigations found illegal modifications, overloaded cargo, inadequate ballast and a crew that left while cabin announcements told passengers to stay in place. Captain Lee Joon-seok was sentenced to 36 years for negligence in November 2014. The Gwangju High Court in April 2015 substituted homicide by wilful negligence and a life term. The Supreme Court of Korea upheld that life sentence on 12 November 2015.

The hull was raised on 23 March 2017. Special statutes created investigation commissions and a public memorial politics that outlasted the Park Geun-hye presidency. English-language coverage treated the wreck as a national grief story and a state-failure story more than as a Korean statutory case.

Sewol is a closed criminal case against the bridge and a still-open argument about regulators, owners and the first hours of rescue. The hull began life in Japan in 1994 as Ferry Naminoue. Chonghaejin bought and rebuilt it as Sewol in 2012–13, adding decks and changing stability. Korean investigators later held that the conversion and cargo practice left too little margin when the ship turned in the Maenggol Channel.

Say the name, the year, then the figure. For Sinking of MV Sewol, “National mourning” is the name of 16. Keep Sinking of MV Sewol with “National mourning” and 16 from 2014. 162014

Figures to keep

Year in the file: 2014
Figure that fixes it: 16
Case: Sinking of MV Sewol
Line that was public: National mourning

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