SEOUL — The head of the South Korean company whose ferry sank in April, killing more than 300 people, was convicted Thursday of accidental homicide and embezzlement and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Kim Han-sik, 71, the chief executive of Chonghaejin Marine Co., was among 11 officials from the ferry operator, the cargo company Union Transport, and the port inspector Korea Shipping Association who were on trial for their roles in the disaster.
All but one were convicted of accidental homicide and other criminal charges. Seven of the officials were sentenced to two to six years in prison. Two other officials were given suspended prison terms. Another official, a senior ship inspector, was acquitted of obstruction of justice, the only charge he had faced.
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The ferry Sewol tilted sharply while making a turn in a shipping lane off the southwestern coast of South Korea on April 16. It failed to right itself and sank, killing 304 people, most of them high school students on a field trip.
Investigators concluded that the ferry had become dangerously top-heavy and unbalanced after Chonghaejin Marine added cabins on its upper decks to accommodate extra passengers. The ferry operator also colluded with the cargo company and port inspectors to regularly overload the ship, the investigators said.
On its last voyage, the Sewol was carrying twice as much cargo as legally allowed, according to court documents. The ship’s crew had reduced the amount of ballast water it carried at its bottom for stability so that it could accommodate the excess cargo, investigators said.
“The defendants had known that the ship was unstable and that if it sank, it was highly likely that passengers would die or get injured,” the district court in Gwangju, said in a statement explaining the verdicts.
This month, another South Korean court sentenced Yoo Dae-kyoon, the eldest son of Yoo Byung-eun, a business mogul who controlled a fleet of companies, including Chonghaejin Marine, to three years in prison for embezzlement. The authorities accused members of the Yoo family of stealing the equivalent of millions of dollars from the ferry company, money they said could have been used for safety measures.
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The senior Yoo was found dead in July while on the run from criminal charges.
In its ruling on Thursday, the Gwangju court said Kim, the chief executive of Chonghaejin Marine, had helped the Yoo family embezzle company funds. He also failed to act after junior officials told him about the ship’s instability, and he even encouraged them to overload the ship with poorly lashed cargo in order to generate profits, the court said.
Kim told the court he had suggested that the company sell the dangerous ship but was ignored by the senior Yoo.
On Nov. 11, the Gwangju court sentenced the captain of the ferry, Lee Jun-seok, to 36 years in prison for deserting his ship and its passengers in a fatal crisis. But he was acquitted of murder, infuriating family members of some of the victims. Investigators and survivors have said that passengers were repeatedly told by the crew to stay inside the sinking ship. Fourteen other crew members were sentenced to five to 30 years in prison.
All the crew members have appealed their verdicts.