Ongoing Sewol Ferry Investigation, This Time 'Special Prosecutor'

Subject of CCTV Recording Device Operation at Time of Sinking... Variable in Additional Investigation Requests by Bereaved Families and the Ship Accident Investigation Commission

Im Gwan-hyeok, head of the Sewol Ferry Disaster Special Investigation Unit, is announcing the final investigation results of the Sewol Ferry Disaster Special Investigation Unit on the 19th at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] A special prosecutor investigation into the Sewol ferry incident is set to begin. The main focus is whether the DVR (CCTV video recording device) footage from the time of the sinking was manipulated. This marks the ninth investigation since the 2014 prosecution investigation and the national inquiry. The investigation will also examine the government's appropriateness in handling the DVR, and there is a possibility of reviewing the findings of the Sewol Ferry Disaster Special Investigation Unit (Special Unit).

According to the legal community on the 20th, the Special Unit, which released investigation results on 17 suspicions including the cause of the Sewol sinking and the Coast Guard's rescue responsibilities the day before, has begun the process of handing over related records to the special prosecutor. Since the Special Unit was effectively disbanded as of yesterday, it cannot conduct any further investigations or activities.

The special prosecutor was established last month after the National Assembly plenary session passed the "Request for Appointment of a Special Prosecutor to Investigate Allegations of Manipulation and Editing of Evidence Related to the April 16 Sewol Ferry Disaster." This came after the Social Disaster Special Investigation Committee (SDSIC) demanded the National Assembly to act, citing that the previous prosecution investigations were insufficient. According to the current Special Prosecutor Act, if the National Assembly passes a resolution in the plenary session deeming a special prosecutor investigation necessary for political neutrality and fairness, the case becomes subject to special prosecutor investigation.

The investigation target for the special prosecutor will be the "DVR manipulation allegations." The focus will be on whether the data recorded from the Sewol's internal CCTV footage was manipulated.

In the legal community, there is speculation that the results released by the Special Unit may again be included in the special prosecutor's investigation. The National Assembly has already listed suspicions regarding the Navy and Coast Guard's process of collecting the Sewol DVR and the appropriateness of the government's response, including the Blue House, as subjects for the special prosecutor investigation. Although the special prosecutor's launch is a process to investigate allegations of data manipulation rather than the cause of the Sewol disaster or rescue mistakes, it can also be interpreted as an attempt to re-examine "suspicions of external pressure during the investigation process."

Opposition from the bereaved families and requests for additional investigations are variables that may affect the special prosecutor's activities. Yoo Kyung-geun, Executive Director of the Sewol Ferry Disaster Families Association, pointed out on his SNS that "the prosecution Special Unit has proven itself to be created solely to additionally indict Coast Guard members who should have been prosecuted in 2014." He added, "They accepted the existing prosecution announcement on the cause of the sinking as is, denied the need for further investigation, and blocked it," calling it "an investigation result that issued many non-prosecution decisions relying only on the suspects' statements."

The Social Disaster Special Investigation Committee's activity period, which was scheduled to end last month, has been extended until June 2022 with support from the National Assembly. The SDSIC also raised the possibility of record manipulation, stating that "there were problems in the evidence preservation process of the Jindo VTS (Vessel Traffic Service) on the day of the incident." Moreover, after consultations with the National Intelligence Service (NIS) the day before, the SDSIC was able to review the entire list of approximately 640,000 NIS documents containing the word "Sewol" and request access to specific documents. This enables the bereaved families and the SDSIC to raise new suspicions or request investigations.

A Special Unit official stated, "Although a significant portion of the investigation related to the DVR case has been conducted, we now plan to hand over all related records without omission to the special prosecutor," adding, "All future processes, including additional investigations or conclusions, will be decided by the special prosecutor."