[Cheonghaejin] Former Chairman Yoo Byung-eun ordered the renovation of the Sewol ferry?

1. What has been falsely reported?

Many media outlets put out false reports against former Chairman Yoo Byung-eun, claiming that ‘He gave orders regarding the extension of the Sewol ferry. Through discussions with the Press Arbitration Commission and those directly related to the press, the media was corrected or deleted. Examples of false reports are as follows:

 

 

 

 

2. Reports vs. Facts

 

The joint prosecutor and police investigation headquarters announced that renovations were carried out under the direction of former chairman Yoo Byeung-eun from the beginning of when the Sewol ferry was brought in. In addition, former Chairman Yoo was informed that the stability of the Sewol ferry was weakened due to the renovations, but dismissed this and insisted on the sale of the old MV Ohamana, and ultimately the MV Ohamana was put on the market first.

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It was revealed that Cheunghaejin Marine had already “planned to expand and renovate”, even starting from the time they went ahead with bringing in the Naminoue ferry, and that Ki-Hyun Ahn requested a feasibility test from Shinsung Ship Design to see whether the the expansion and renovations were possible, and proceeded with the expansion and renovations after receiving a reply that there were no issues. Therefore, Chairman Yoo Byung-eun never directed or participated in the renovation of the Sewol ferry. In addition, representatives of former chairman Yoo Byung-eun informed us that CEO Kim Han-sik of Cheunghaejin Marine gave ‘an opinion to sell one of the Ohamana or Sewol ferries and to buy a freighter' at the time. To this, former Chairman Yoo only instructed to ‘first sell the Ohamana ferry, which was over 25 years old,’ and never dismissed or objected to the suggestion to sell the Sewol ferry.

 

 

 

3. Related articles

<Hankook Ilbo April 17, 2016>

A counter-argument report related to [former Chairman Yoo Byung-eun]

A counter-argument report related to [former Chairman Yoo Byung-eun]

A counter-argument report regarding the report made by this newspaper on April 17th and 18th, which reported that, "Former Chairman Yoo Byung-eun ordered an unreasonable renovation to create a private exhibition hall on the Sewol ferry, and although he received regarding issues with stability, he disregarded them." Regarding this, we have been informed by representatives of the late Chairman Yoo Byung-eun that, “It is untrue that former Chairman Yoo Byung-eun ordered renovations of the Sewol ferry with the main purpose of installing a private exhibition hall, and it is untrue that he received reports of stability issues and disregarded them.” This article was revised following the Press Arbitration Commission.

 

 

 

<Kookmin Daily, June 11, 2015>

[Correction and objection related to the Evangelical Baptist Church (Guwonpa) and former President Yoo Byung-eun]

6. Regarding the reports of former Chairman Yoo Byung-eun's escape and management intervention, the 'high-and-low meeting' is a social gathering of related companies and has nothing to do with management intervention from former Chairman Yoo. It is untrue that former Chairman Yoo ordered or was involved in the renovation of the Sewol ferry, or that he gave orders through SNS to relevant members of the church immediately after the Sewol ferry incident. And as the time of death of former President Yoo Byung-eun was confirmed through the National Forensic Service, it was confirmed that there was no organized escape assistance from the Evangelical Baptist Church, and that it was untrue that 'Mother Kim' and ‘Mother Shin' held positions or were ordered by the denomination to aid in the escape. The results of the prosecutions investigations also confirmed that the claims that former Chairman Yoo Byung-eun attempted to seek asylum or stow away overseas as well were also as unfounded.

 

 

 

 

<The Hankyoreh 21 January 21, 2016>

[A counter-argument report related to 

former Semo Group Chairman Yoo Byung-eun]

In the special feature No. 1081 (October 5th, 2015) under the heading 'It was sinking before April 16th,' it was reported that even though the President of Cheonghaejin Marine, Kim Han-sik, wrote a resignation letter and reported his suggestion to sell the Sewol ferry to former Semo Group Chairman Yoo Byung-eun, the chairman dismissed this and ultimately the Ohamana ferry was put on the market first. In response to this, representatives of the former Chairman Yoo Byung-eun revealed that at the time, President of Cheonghaejin Marine, Kim Han-sik, gave a report and ‘suggested to sell one of the Ohamana or Sewol ferries and to buy a freighter,' to which former Chairman Yoo only instructed to ‘first sell the Ohamana ferry, which was over 25 years old,’ and never dismissed or objected to the suggestion to sell the Sewol ferry. This report was revised following the Press Arbitration Commission.

 

 

 

4. Reference Article

<Sisa IN December 14, 2015>

[The truth sank on April 16th]

The logic that the renovation of the Sewol ferry was the cause of the accident has also become weak. The prosecution said that the cause of the accident was due to that the former Semo Group chairman Yoo Byung-eun ordered the renovations of the Sewol ferry which made it unstable. However, the expansion and renovation of the Sewol ferry itself was not recognized as being illegal. Moreover, it was the government that was responsible for permitting the Sewol ferry’s expansion and renovation. In addition, the prosecution alleged that because former Chairman Yoo Byung-eun ordered to “sell the Ohamana ferry, which is over 25 years old,” the Sewol ferry was operating while having stability problems, which resulted in the accident. However, the court said this was an excessive leap and did not accept this view. This means that former chairman Yoo Byung-eun cannot be held responsible for overload. The government's Sewol ferry formula, which used to be ‘In conclusion it is Yoo Byeung-eun’, has now reached its time limit and come to an end from a legal perspective.

 

 

 

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