Ferry Captain Faces Life in Prison as Public Anger Grows
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Prosecutors investigating South Korea’s worst maritime disaster in four decades said the captain of the ‘Sewol’ ferry and two crew members are facing a life sentence for abandoning passengers as the vessel sank.
Homicide through abandonment carries a prison term of three years or more and a life sentence is possible under Korean law. Captain Lee Joon Seok, 68, who wasn’t on the bridge at the time of the incident, the third mate named Park, who was steering the vessel, and a helmsman Cho, who was with Park, face the abandonment charge and others including homicide through occupational negligence, prosecutor Lee Bong Chang said by phone today in Mokpo.