Roughly 75 percent of victims and survivors in last year’s Sewol ferry tragedy have filed for government compensation, the government said Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, families of 208 out of 304 killed or missing have agreed to accept the government’s offer of financial compensation, which is expected to reach up to 470 million won ($399,000) per victim.

The families of nine who remain unaccounted for have also requested the compensation, after the ministry vowed to prepare measures to prevent the bodies from being lost in the salvage process. They said they will decide whether or not to receive the money after the ship is salvaged.

Of the 157 survivors, 140 applied to be compensated. Settlement for the survivors varies depending on their respective jobs, age and degree of injury, but each one will receive a minimum of 10 million won.

Bereaved families and survivors who did not apply for the compensation had filed a lawsuit against the government and Cheonghaejin Marine Co., the ship’s operator, saying that the government compensation was not sufficient. They refused to receive money for their losses, as a settlement would deprive them of the right to sue those responsible for the incident.

The ministries of justice, maritime and security will jointly deal with the case.

The Maritimes Ministry also received claims related to cargo loss, pollution and damage to the adjacent fishing ground, which came to 325, 62 and 562 cases each. To date, 47.2 billion won has been paid in compensation, 37.8 billion of which was handed to victims and survivors.

A 14-member committee, including government and judiciary officials, will hold meetings twice a month to deliberate on the settlement. The ministry plans to deliberate all cases and pay the compensation by the end of the year.

The sinking of the 6,825-ton vessel is considered one of the worst maritime disasters in Korea. Most of its victims were high school students en route to a field trip on Jejudo Island.

Nationwide outcry broke out after it was learned that most crew members, including captain Lee Joon-seok, had abandoned the ship before passengers were led to safety. Lee was handed a life imprisonment sentence by an appellate court this April, and sentences for rest of the 15 crew members varied from 1 1/2 years in prison to 12 years.

Lee appealed the ruling and the case is currently pending decision at the Supreme Court.

The incident also unveiled a network of corruption between government and civil officials, and sparked criticism over the government’s failure to conduct effective rescue operations, which led to President Park Geun-hye disbanding the Korea Coast Guard.


By Yoon Min-sik
(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)