Special investigation team secures records involving ferry disaster

On Friday, a special investigation unit of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office tasked with reinvestigating the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster secured communication records of the Coast Guard at the time of the incident.

The special unit raided the Coast Guard headquarters in Incheon and branches in South Jeolla Province and asked the maritime security authority to submit travel records for the Sewol ferry rescue operations.

In October, a special committee launched to review the ferry disaster looked into the Coast Guard suspected of negligence after an emergency patient was found to be sidelined twice in favor of senior Coast Guard official for seat on a helicopter, which could have taken the patient to a nearby hospital. The patient died.

The committee also suspects the Navy and Coast Guard of tampering with video footage of the Sewol ferry sinking. The footage could reveal whether the government had responded well to the accident.

The special unit said they would be cooperating with military prosecutors to chronicle in detail how the disaster unfolded and what the government did in response.

The unit will also look into what roles then-President Park Geun-hye and then-Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn played during the accident that left about 300 passengers dead, most of whom were teenagers on a school field trip.

On Nov. 15, family members of the Sewol ferry victims pressed manslaughter charges against ousted former President Park Geun-hye and several other government officials at the time.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)