Sacheomwi "Regret over 'No Charges' Conclusion in Sewol Ferry Disaster Special Investigation Unit's Probe"

On October 6 last year, officials from the 4.16 Sewol Ferry Disaster Families' Association held a performance marking the departure of the Truth Bus after concluding a press conference for the launch of the 100,000 National Agreement Petition on the Sewol Ferry Disaster at the fountain in front of the Blue House in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] The Special Investigation Commission on Social Disasters (Sacheomwi) expressed concern over the prosecution's Sewol Ferry Disaster Special Investigation Unit mostly issuing 'no charges' decisions on the investigation requests made by Sacheomwi.

In a statement released that day, Sacheomwi pointed out, "The Special Investigation Unit concluded 'no charges' on most of the eight investigation requests submitted by Sacheomwi, which were thoroughly investigated and accompanied by concrete evidence, as well as on 11 complaints and accusations filed by the bereaved families." They added, "Most of the grounds for the investigation results are based on the suspect's statements and previous court rulings."

In particular, Sacheomwi emphasized regarding the suspicion of neglect in the rescue of the late Im Gyeongbin, which the Special Investigation Unit dismissed, stating, "We raised issues about the arbitrary on-site death determination and handling of the drowned victim's body without a doctor's assessment." They continued, "(The Special Investigation Unit's no-charge decision) could send a very dangerous message that public authorities dispatched to disaster sites in the future may arbitrarily handle victims found on-site without a doctor's assessment and face no punishment, which is very concerning."

Regarding the suspicion of surveillance on bereaved families, Sacheomwi expressed concern, saying, "If specific methods such as tailing, wiretapping, or hacking are not proven in the future, broad civilian surveillance activities by agencies like the National Intelligence Service could be tolerated, and civilian surveillance activities without anti-espionage suspicion could be effectively pardoned."

Sacheomwi urged the transfer of materials related to the suspicion of manipulation of the Sewol Ferry DVR (CCTV video recording device), on which the Special Investigation Unit has deferred disposition, to the Special Prosecutor, and demanded that all obtained materials and investigation records be handed over to Sacheomwi.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.