Yoo Byung-eun

Last April, we posted about the capsizing and sinking of the South Korean ro/ro ferry Sewol with the loss of over 300, dead and missing.  Yoo Byung-eun, the effective owner and manager of Chonghaejin Marine Company, which operated the ferry, had been the subject of the country’s largest man-hunt since a Korean court issued an arrest warrant for him in May, on charges of embezzlement, breach of trust and tax evasion. That man-hunt ended with the announcement today that a body found on June 12 by a farmer in an apricot orchard in Suncheon, had finally been identified by DNA testing as Mr. Yoo.

The sinking of the ferry Sewol  was tragically typical of similar ferry losses. The vessel appears to have been poorly loaded, sailed with inadequate stability and with cargo not properly secured. When the ferry began to capsize  the captain was slow to respond, the crew failed to deploy life rafts and also instructed passengers to stay in the cabin — all actions that are believed to have dramatically increased the death rate.

If the ferry tragedy was typical, the ferry’s owner was not. Yoo Byung-eun was a businessman, a religious leader, an inventor and a photographer.  With reputation as a recluse, Yoo became known as the “millionaire without a face.”  In 1962 he founded the Evangelical Baptist Church of Korea, also known as the Salvation Sect.  Other churches in Korea have claimed that the group is a cult.  On 29 August 1987, thirty-two members of a splinter sect of the church were found dead, bound and gagged, in what the police believed to be a murder-suicide.  Though initially suspected of being involved, Yoo was never charged in the deaths.   Yoo was, however, convicted in 1992,  of “habitual fraud under the mask of religion” for his role in colluding with one of his employees to collect donations from church members and to invest them in his businesses. Yoo served a 4-year prison term for the conviction.

In 1979, Yoo founded Semo Corp., a holding company that became involved in shipping, shipbuilding, domestic ferry businesses, electronics, real estate, cosmetics, paint, stuffed toys, pewter, and various other ventures.  By 1994, Semo had grown to become Korea’s biggest ferry operator, operating 30 ships.  Semo went bankrupt in the Asian financial crisis of 1997.  Yoo and his family continued to control ferry operations through a newly formed corporation, Chonghaejin Marine.

in addition to his religious and business activities, Yoo was an internationally known photographer who worked under the pseudonym, Ahae. His work has been displayed in the United States, Europe and Russia, including at the National Gallery in Prague, the Tuileries Garden at the Louvre, in Paris, the Lancaster House, and Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London, Vremena Goda Galleries in Moscow, Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografia in Florence, in Magazzini del Sale, Venice and the Vanderbilt Hall of Grand Central Terminal, in New York City.

Yoo also held multiple patents, including one for a colonic irrigation system, for which he received an International Federation of Inventors’ Associations’ prize at the 2006 Seoul International Invention Fair.

Following the Sewol ferry tragedy, lawyers representing Yoo claimed that he held no interest in the ferry or Chonghaejin Marine. Subsequent investigations determined that Yoo had effective control of the operations and was involved in day to day management. They claim that Yoo and his family siphoned off millions of dollars from the firm. They also say that Yoo was advised of the ferry’s stability problems by the chief executive of Chonghaejin Marine but that Yoo directed him to continue operations as usual.

So far, 63 crew members, ferry company officials, government regulators and others have been arrested on murder, negligence and other various criminal charges related to the Sewol tragedy. The ferry’s captain and 14 crew members went on trial last month.

Thanks to Phil Leon for contributing to this post.