By Alex Jensen

SEOUL 

The son of a man who was once one of South Korea’s most infamous fugitives was given a three-year prison sentence Wednesday – having gone on the run himself following April’s Sewol ferry disaster, which left more than 300 dead or still unaccounted for.

Yoo Dae-kyun was convicted of embezzling around $7 million from the Sewol’s operator, Cheonghaejin Marine, and six other affiliates between 2002 and the end of last year, according to national news agency Yonhap.

The 44-year-old had eluded local authorities until his arrest in a suburb south of Seoul on July 25 – just three days after the revelation that his father, Yoo Byung-eun, had been found dead.

The elder Yoo was widely described as the Sewol’s de facto owner – and, like his son, was wanted for questioning over whether alleged mismanagement of the ferry could have compromised the safety of hundreds of schoolchildren who were on board when it sank April 16.

In his ruling, Incheon District Court Judge Lee Jae-wook described Yoo Dae-kyun as having “embezzled tens of billions of won from affiliates by abusing his status as the son of Yoo-Byung-eun.”

As the net widened around the Yoo family over corruption charges, two uncles of Yoo Dae-kyun joined their nephew in being sentenced Wednesday to a two-year prison term and a one-year suspended sentence, respectively.

Ten close aides of the late Yoo Byung-eun are also set to serve between 18 months and four years behind bars.

The judgments represent another step in a complex post-disaster justice process.

While those actually steering the ship currently await their punishments – prosecutors have demanded the death sentence for the Sewol’s captain – South Korea’s main rival political parties have recently begun to jointly proceed toward an independent investigation demanded by victims’ family members.

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