A local conservative civic group called Tuesday for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate alleged lobbying of politicians by the late shipping tycoon blamed for April’s ferry disaster.
The move comes a day after the prosecution announced the results of its investigation into the causes of the sinking of the Sewol ferry in waters off the southwestern island of Jindo on April 16. The disaster left more than 300 people dead or missing.
The prosecution said that the sinking, one of the country’s worst maritime disasters, was caused by a combination of cargo overloading, an illegal redesigning of the ship to increase its cargo load, and the steersman’s poor helmsmanship.
The civic group, however, singled out allegations that Yoo Byung-eun, the deceased billionaire whose family owns Sewol operator Chonghaejin Marine Co., lobbied politicians.
“The prosecution, at the beginning of its investigation, announced that it has a list of golf clubs purchased by Yoo, worth
50 billion (US$46.8 million), for lobbying purposes,” the Seoul-based group, “People’s Movement For Reforming Corrupt Politics,” said in a statement. “The prosecution, however, did not launch an investigation into such an allegation.”
Suspicions have arisen that the deceased businessman purchased expensive golf clubs to bribe powerful politicians and that there were government lobbyists for Yoo.
“There are still suspicions that (the Yoo family) benefited from previous administrations,” the group said, noting that Yoo’s family had been able to get his debts erased to make a remarkable comeback in the past.
The group urged President Park Gen-hye to appoint an independent counsel to find the truth behind the allegations.
Last week, the ruling and main opposition parties reached a compromise on a controversial bill aimed at getting to the bottom of April’s ferry tragedy.
The agreement calls for the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Political Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) to jointly recommend four independent counsel candidates for President Park to appoint one of them to lead an investigation. (Yonhap)
