The nationwide manhunt for a fugitive tycoon,
known to be the de facto owner of the Sewol, ended Tuesday, when the police
confirmed that a body found last month was that of Yoo Byung-eun.
The
death of South Korea's most wanted man, however, remains a mystery as the
authorities are still struggling to determine exactly when and how he died. The
fugitive’s death is also shrouded in secrecy as the police identified the body
as Yoo’s nearly six weeks after it was found by a farmer in a plum orchard near
Suncheon, South Jeolla Province.
The
police said they sent two DNA samples as the body was badly decomposed when it
was found. But questions linger about why it took so long ― nearly a month and
a half ― to identify the body, and why it never occurred to investigators that
the body could be Yoo’s, considering the site where it was found and evidence
that apparently indicated it was him.
The
body was discovered 2.5 kilometres from a country house where Yoo was believed
to have been holed up. The police said they found three bottles of liquor
beside the body and a bag containing handwritten letters with the phrase
“Dreamlike Love”. “Dreamlike Love” is the title of a book of poetry published
by Yoo.
Suncheon
police also said they found an empty bottle of shark liver oil, which the
businessman was said to have taken for a while. It was reportedly manufactured
by a pharmaceutical company led by his close aide. The body was clothed in a
designer label winter jacket and shoes, items imported from Italy and Japan.
The
police claimed they never imagined that the body could have been Yoo’s until
the forensic experts confirmed the identity on Monday afternoon.
“We
never suspected the body found near Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, on June 12
was Yoo’s and only learned (that it was his) after a DNA test result that came
out on the afternoon of (July) 21,” said Lee Seong-han, commissioner of the
Korea National Police Agency.
The
police chief said the corpse had been suspected to be that of an unidentified
elderly resident in the region and the DNA test was ordered to simply identify
the body.
“The
initial investigation was carried out with mistakes,” said Lee.
The
body was transferred from Suncheon to the National Forensic Service in Seoul,
to determine the cause and time of death. The police said on Tuesday afternoon
that a toxicology test was being carried out to see whether Yoo killed himself
by swallowing poisonous substances.
The
confirmation put an end to a major, months-long search for Yoo, head of the
family-controlled company that owned and operated the Sewol ferry that sank on
April 16. The doomed ferry was carrying 476 passengers, including 325 high
school students who were on a school trip to the resort island of Jejudo. The
death toll stands at 294 with 10 victims still missing.
Shortly
after the sinking, the prosecution issued summonses for Yoo and his family
members. Yoo has no stake in Chonghaejin, the operator of the ferry. But the
company has been run by his children and close aides. They were called in for
questioning over alleged embezzlement and criminal negligence which was
believed to have caused the sinking of the ferry.
Despite
repeated requests by the prosecution, none of his family members, including Yoo
himself, replied to the summonses. Yoo and his eldest son, Yoo Dae-kyun, fled
as the authorities tried to capture them for disobeying the summonses. Tens of
thousands of police officers and Army troops were deployed to search for the
two fugitives.
Despite
the police’s confirmation, some within the law enforcement agency raised
suspicions that the body could not be that of Yoo.
“I am
110 per cent sure that the decayed body is not that of Yoo, after years of
experience in the field,” a police officer told Yonhap.
He was
referring to the decomposition level of the body, saying that it looked as if
it had been dead for at least six months. Yoo was last spotted on May 25 in the
Suncheon area, he said. Pointing at the empty alcohol bottles, the officer said
Yoo never drank, adding that it would be impossible for him to die alone in a
field as he was known to have been constantly protected by followers of a
religious cult established by his father-in-law.
Questions
also remain over why it took so long for the authorities to identify the body.
According
to reports and sources, the rivalry between the two law enforcement agencies ―
the prosecution and the police ― may have delayed the identification since they
refused to share Yoo’s DNA information with each other.
The two
agencies reportedly collected DNA samples of Yoo separately from hideouts they
raided over the last two months, as well as information that may have indicated
Yoo’s next move.
Cho
Chung-un
Business & Investment Opportunities
Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd (SBC) is incorporated
in Singapore since 1994.
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