SEOUL
South Korea’s justice minister expressed his “sincere apology” Thursday over the failed manhunt for the de facto owner of the Sewol ferry, which sank on April 16 leaving more than 300 people dead or missing.
A near $500,000 reward had been on offer for the whereabouts of 73-year-old Yoo Byung-eun since May.
The case took a twist Tuesday when police confirmed through DNA analysis that a body that they had first discovered in a plum field near southern Suncheon city in June was that of Yoo.
As the country marked 100 days since the Sewol tragedy Thursday, police and prosecutors were coming under increasing pressure for their mistakes – including Wednesday’s revelation that officers had failed to detect Yoo while raiding a vacation home where he was hiding on May 25.
The fugitive’s body was found just 2.5 kilometers away on June 12, but a weeks-long delay in suspecting a link to Yoo meant the country had still considered him to be at large until this week.
Speaking a day before the National Forensic Service was expected to reveal the cause of Yoo’s death, Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn told a parliamentary legislation committee meeting that he was sorry the body had been left unidentified for a lengthy period of time.
"[Investigators] made all their efforts to arrest the fugitive Yoo and punish him severely. But despite such efforts, Yoo was found long before," Hwang noted.
National Police Agency chief Lee Sung-han also said he was “sorry for the inadequacy in the initial response” during a separate parliamentary committee meeting.
Ruling Saenuri Party spokesperson Park Dae-chul announced findings demonstrating that the police and prosecution had tried to cover up their errors – in a move set to further stir public emotion.
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and National Police Agency said they are examining any wrongdoing, while the latter has already dismissed its provincial chief covering the Suncheon area.
The prosecutor in charge of the manhunt, Choi Jae-kyung, offered to resign Thursday, writing on an internal website: “As the commander in chief, it would only be my responsibility if there were any fault during the course of the investigation.”
President Park Geun-hye has been under pressure to improve public safety, as she saw her approval rating plummet from 61 percent in March to a record low of 40 percent earlier this month, according to a Gallup Korea poll.
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