During the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014, former Maritime Police Commissioner Kim Seok-gyun, who was handed over to trial on charges of causing passengers to die for failing to take proper initial measures, was convicted at the first trial trial held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu on the afternoon of the 15th, and came out to answer questions from reporters. have. yunhap news
At the time of the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014, the command of the Maritime Police Agency, who was handed over to trial for failing to properly rescue passengers and inflicting more than 400 casualties, was acquitted at the first trial. At the time of the disaster, the court saw that the maritime police lacked the capacity to deal with large ship accidents and that it was possible to hold the organization’s superiors responsible for poor management, but concluded that it was difficult to take criminal responsibility for injuring or killing passengers by negligence.
The 22nd Division of the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Agreement (Director Chul-Hang Yang) announced on the 15th that Seok-gyun Kim (56), former head of the Coast Guard and Su-Hyun Kim (64), former head of the West Sea Coast Guard, and former head of Mokpo Coast Guard, etc. All 10 commanders were acquitted. However, former Chief Kim Moon-hong and Lee Jae-du (60), former captain of Mokpo Coast Guard 3009, who were handed over to trial on charges of including a “departure order” in an official document containing measures taken on the day of the disaster, respectively, were imprisoned for 1 year and June. He was sentenced to three years of probation in prison and two years of probation in June.
The focus of the trial was on whether the Marine Police Command, which had a rescue headquarters, had to abandon the passengers waiting for rescue on board the ship and performed its mission to minimize human casualties. The Special Investigation Unit for the Sewol ferry disaster under the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office believed that the Coast Guard command failed to establish a proper rescue plan due to attempted communication with the Sewol ferry or failed to maintain contact before the rescue forces arrived at the scene. After the rescue forces arrived, it was determined that it was a business negligence that no measures were taken to induce passengers to leave the ship through communication with the captain and crew of the Sewol ferry, and that the patrol boat or helicopter that had been rescued on-site did not induce the departure through broadcasting, etc. Kim Gyeong-il (63), former 123 suit, who served as a field commander at the time, was sentenced to three years in prison in the Supreme Court on charges of manslaughter in 2015.
The judge, however, found it difficult to admit the prosecution’s claim. First, before the rescue forces arrived, the Jindo VTS (Marine Traffic Control Center) was in communication with the Sewol, and the Coast Guard command also took measures to try to communicate with the Sewol as a possible means of communication. The court judged that the fact that the passengers who stayed on board were not properly rescued even after the arrival of the rescue forces was more responsible for the rescue forces, including the captain and crew of the Sewol ferry, and 123 boats than the coastal command. At the time, the captain of the Sewol ferry at the time, Lee Joon-seok, communicated to Jindo VTS that’they broadcasted to the passengers to try to escape’ and then escaped the Sewol first with the crew without actually broadcasting. 123 Jeong also reported to the command,’I will induce the crew to board the Sewol ferry and induce abandonment’, but it was not implemented properly.
The judge said, “It is judged that the defendants could not have predicted the situation where the captain of the Sewol ferry and the crew were abandoning their duty of rescue and escaping, and according to the report of 123 boats at the time, the crew was likely to have misconceived the situation that the passengers were departing.” Revealed.
On this day, the judge expressed its intention to accept external criticism of the ruling on an unusual basis. After completing the sentence, the judge said, “The Sewol case was a case that seriously hurt the victims’ families and the people, and it is natural that various evaluations are made on the judgment of the court.” “I will accept whether I support or criticize the judgment of the court.” Revealed.
The families of the Sewol ferry disaster are leaving the court with tears. yunhap news
Former Haekyung Commissioner Kim Seok-gyun, who was convicted of innocence and exited the courtroom, said, “Thank you to the judiciary for making fair and wise judgments,” he said. “I take this opportunity to once again apologize to the families of the victims and express their consolation.”
The bereaved families were angry at the court judgment. Kim Jong-ki, chairman of the 4.16 Family Council, raised his voice, “If you can’t ask for a crime because you couldn’t judge whether hundreds of people would die, why are there field personnel and why should the command department be?” Attorney Lee Jeong-il, a legal representative on the surviving family’s side, pointed out that “in the future, even in other disasters, if the on-site report is not properly reported or the means of communication is insufficient, we will always give indulgence to the command.” The prosecution also said, “It is difficult to understand the results of the sentence of the first instance court, so we will file an appeal.”
However, as all the coastal police commanders were found not guilty, it became difficult to avoid criticism that the prosecutors had carried out a’unreasonable prosecution’ or’insolvent investigation’. The prosecution of the Coast Guard Command was the first case that was prosecuted after the launch of the Sewol Special Forces, and was evaluated as the only investigation result of the prosecution.
Hyunjoo Lee reporter [email protected]
Choi Na-sil reporter [email protected]
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