(LEAD) Son of sunken ferry owner ordered to compensate gov't

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SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Thursday ordered the eldest son of the late owner of a ferry, which sank in 2014 killing more than 300, to compensate the government for the disaster.

The government had sued Yoo Dae-kyun, son of the ferry Sewol's late owner Yoo Byung-eun, for 3.54 billion won (US$3.1 million) to cover the costs involved in handling the April 16, 2014 disaster, including compensation to the families of the victims, mostly high school students on a field trip.

The Seoul Central District Court ordered Yoo to pay the government 75 million won and dismissed the amount in excess, saying the state should instead sue the ferry's operator, Chonghaejin Marine Co.

Yoo was earlier sentenced to two years in prison for embezzling nearly 7.4 billion won from the operator and six other affiliates. Of the total, some 3.5 billion won was taken from the operator.

According to the ruling, the government spent 200 billion won to cope with the disaster's aftermath.

hague@yna.co.kr
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