Appellate court orders additional compensation for families of 2014 ferry disaster victims

SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- An appellate court on Thursday ordered additional compensation to be paid to the bereaved families of those killed in the 2014 sinking of the Sewol ferry, acknowledging their privacy rights were infringed by a state body's surveillance of them.

On April 16, 2014, the 6,800-ton vessel, carrying 476 passengers en route to the resort island of Jeju, capsized in waters off the southern coast, killing 304 people, mostly high school students on a school trip.

Four years later, 355 bereaved family members of 118 victims won a damages suit they filed against the state and Chonghaejin Marine, the operator of the sunken ferry.

A district court ruled at that time the state and the ferry operator should together pay 72.3 billion won (US$58 million) in compensation to the victims and their families, acknowledging their responsibility for the deadly accident.

Of those family members, 228 appealed the ruling seeking further compensation, saying their privacy rights were violated by a military intelligence agency's illegal surveillance of their personal backgrounds and political orientation.

The Seoul High Court ordered additional compensation of up to 5 million won for each plaintiff on top of the compensation granted in the earlier ruling.

"It is acknowledged that the Defense Security Command of South Korea, the accused, infringed upon the bereaved families' freedom of privacy by surveilling them to discover their personal backgrounds and political leanings," the court said.

pbr@yna.co.kr
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