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Dead body believed to be Sewol owner found: police

The National Forensic Service is conducting a DNA test on a dead body, who is believed to be runaway sunken ferry owner Yoo Byung-eun, police said Tuesday.

According to investigators, the body was found on June 12 at a plum field in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, which had been picked as a feasible location where the capsized ferry Sewol owner could hide himself out after the April 16 sinking tragedy.

The body's DNA approximately matched that of the 73-year-old Yoo’s older brother, Byung-il, said the investigators. The older Yoo has been taken into custody for allegedly pocketing funds of affiliates of Chonghaejin Marine Co., the operator of the ill-fated ferry.

Over the past few weeks, investigators composed of prosecutors and policemen have carried out an all-out manhunt for the fugitive in areas in the southern part of the nation.

The prosecution said in May that it obtained intelligence that Yoo was staying at the residence of a devotee of the Salvation Sect -- which was led by the Sewol owner -- in Suncheon. But the law enforcement agency has failed to arrest him.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Salvation Sect reportedly downplayed the authenticity as to whether the body is really Yoo. He was quoted by a news provider as saying that the corpse appears not to be Yoo “in consideration of a variety of factors (involving the estimated death time of the unidentified figure).”

While police said that some liquor bottles were also discovered around the dead body, the religious sect’s spokesman reportedly argued that Yoo is teetotal like his earlier remarks in front of devotees.

The National Police Agency said it is set to unveil its interim investigation results involving the state forensic agency’s ongoing DNA scrutiny at Suncheon Police Station at 9 a.m., Tuesday.

By Kim Yon-se

(kys@heraldcorp.com)