SEOUL
South Korean police have made a major breakthrough in their investigation into the sinking of a ferry carrying hundreds of high school students in April – by detaining the eldest son of the vessel’s de facto owner Friday evening.
Yoo Dae-kyun and his father had been on the run for weeks since the Sewol disaster, which claimed a suspected 304 lives - although ten of the victims remain unaccounted for.
The arrest came in the same week that the patriarch - 73-year-old ferry tycoon Yoo Byun-eun - was confirmed to have died, after DNA tests were performed on a body that had been discovered on June 12 in a plum orchard.
While a near $500,000 reward had been offered for the elder Yoo’s whereabouts, South Korean authorities had also made around $100,000 available for information related to his son.
According to local reports, 44-year-old Yoo Dae-kyn was arrested at approximately 7 p.m. along with a 34-year-old woman, Park Su-kyung – who was accused of helping him evade detection.
Park is also the daughter of Shin Myung-hee, who is considered an important figure within a religious sect that was co-founded by the elder Yoo.
In their pursuit of him, police had raided the Evangelical Baptist Church’s compound in Anseong, south of Seoul, in June - even arresting six members suspected of concealing his whereabouts.
South Korea’s official forensic agency announced Friday that it was “impossible” to confirm the cause of death of the country’s most wanted fugitive. While the inconclusive announcement may have failed to rule out suicide or murder, the agency did confirm that Yoo had not died from a drug overdose.
Investigators have been examining a possible link between corruption involving the Yoo family and safety lapses that could have led to the Sewol’s sinking on April 16.
In late May, Yoo’s eldest daughter Yoo Som-na had been detained for "fraud and embezzlement" in France thanks to the coordination of Interpol.
Her uncle Yoo Byung-il was taken into custody the next month near the Anseong compound on suspicion of embezzlement. Investigators revealed that he had been receiving a monthly income from Chonghaejin Marine - the ill-fated Sewol’s operator.
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