'No Prosecution Conclusion on Sewol Ferry Evidence Tampering Allegations... Special Prosecutor Investigation Concludes'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Special Prosecutor Hyunju Lee, who was investigating allegations of evidence tampering in the Sewol ferry disaster, has concluded the investigation by deciding not to indict on all related suspicions.

On the afternoon of the 10th, the special prosecutor held a press conference at the Seoul Bar Association and announced that they would not file charges regarding the case of alleged manipulation and editing of evidence related to the Sewol ferry disaster. The special prosecutor's office was launched on May 13 and conducted a 90-day investigation into ▲the Navy and Coast Guard's 'Sewol DVR (CCTV storage device) collection process suspicions' ▲allegations of manipulation of the 'Sewol ferry closed-circuit television (CCTV)' data ▲and the appropriateness of the Blue House and other government responses related to the DVR.

The special prosecutor stated that there was no evidence to support the suspicions regarding the Navy and Coast Guard's collection and handover process of the 'Sewol DVR,' and thus decided not to file charges. The core of this suspicion was that the 'Sewol DVR' was secretly collected before June 22, 2014, and replaced with a 'fake DVR' on the same day. A special prosecutor official said, "We could not find any grounds to believe that a 'fake DVR' existed separately from the 'Sewol DVR,' nor any grounds to believe that the DVR was swapped."

The special prosecutor reached the same conclusion regarding allegations of manipulation of the Sewol CCTV data. This suspicion claimed that someone tampered with the 'Sewol CCTV' data stored on the 'Sewol DVR.' A special prosecutor official stated, "After reviewing approximately 1,310 hours of footage from a total of four CCTV cameras, we confirmed that the unusual phenomena pointed out as signs of tampering could generally occur during the data restoration process," adding, "No points suggesting data manipulation were identified."

Regarding suspicions about the appropriateness of government responses, including those of the Blue House related to the DVR, the special prosecutor said, "After reviewing all evidence, including presidential records and communication data from the Navy and Coast Guard, we found no criminal suspicion regarding the appropriateness of the government response." Additionally, the special prosecutor noted, "There were requests to investigate the Sewol ferry's navigation track, but after review, it was determined that this was not within the scope of the special prosecutor's investigation."

Regarding the Sewol ferry disaster, repeated efforts to uncover the truth and hold responsible parties accountable have been made through investigations by the prosecution, the National Assembly's state audit, the Board of Audit and Inspection, the Maritime Safety Tribunal, the Sewol Special Investigation Committee, the Sewol Hull Investigation Committee, and the Social Disaster Special Investigation Committee. In November 2019, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office formed a special investigation team for the Sewol ferry disaster. Including this special prosecutor's office, eight agencies have conducted nine investigations. A special prosecutor official said, "The special prosecutor made the best efforts to uncover the truth," and added, "We hope that this investigation has resolved the related suspicions."

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