Sewol Ferry Special Prosecutor Ends Supreme Prosecutors' Office Search After 7 Hours... Continues Tomorrow

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The special prosecution team led by Lee Hyun-joo, investigating allegations of evidence tampering in the Sewol ferry disaster, conducted a search and seizure at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office for about seven hours on the 14th and secured related materials.

The Sewol Special Prosecutor's Office secured materials related to the collection of the Sewol ferry's closed-circuit television (CCTV) digital video recorder (DVR), including videos, instructions, plans, reports, and electronic information, by accessing the integrated digital evidence management system server at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office from around 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. that day.

Due to the vast amount of materials to be secured, the special prosecution team decided to conduct an additional search and seizure on the following day, the 15th.

Since its launch on the 13th of last month, the special prosecution team has obtained and reviewed approximately 800 volumes of records and about 40 terabytes (TB) of electronic information from related agencies that handled the Sewol ferry disaster case, including the Social Disaster Special Investigation Committee (Sacheomwi), the National Assembly, Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, and Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office.

Additionally, as of that day, five prosecutors and 21 investigators were dispatched to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the Navy (Headquarters, Jinhae Base Command, and Maritime Rescue Squadron), and the Coast Guard (Headquarters, West Sea Regional Maritime Police Agency, and Mokpo Maritime Police Station), securing about 30 boxes of documents and over 100TB of electronic information through search and seizure operations.

Meanwhile, 11 individuals, including officials from Sacheomwi, the 4·16 Sewol Ferry Disaster Special Investigation Committee, the Hull Investigation Committee, the Maritime Police Station, and the 4·16 Records Group, were summoned as witnesses for questioning. However, no suspects have been formally charged with specific offenses yet.

Granted a 60-day investigation period, the Sewol Special Prosecutor's Office can conduct investigations until the 11th of next month and may extend the period by 30 days with presidential approval if necessary.

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