Some two years after the family members of the victims of the Sewol-ho ferry disaster first filed a compensation suit.... against the government and the vessel's operator,.... a local court finally released its verdict on Thursday.
The Seoul Central District Court held the state and the operator, Cheonghaejin Marine, responsible for the tragedy.
It ordered them to pay compensation of some... 1-hundred-77-thousand U.S. dollars per victim.... and 35-thousand dollars for their parents.
Three-hundred-54 family members of 1-hundred-18 victims are the plaintiffs in the case.
They asserted that the state and the ferry operator were responsible for neglecting safety management.... and for not launching a swift rescue operation.
The Sewol-ho ferry capsized in waters off the southwestern island of Jindo back in April of 2014,... killing 3-hundred-4 people,... mostly high school students.
