--- description: The son and two brothers of late tycoon Yoo Byung-eun have been convicted of embezzling funds from the ferry's owning company. title: Relatives of Sewol Ferry Owner Jailed image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa953a93ba6652cb/698764718e0601e16c45819a/485009219.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [South Korea](/tag/south-korea/) ## South Korea Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Relatives of the South Korean Ferry Owner Have Been Jailed by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 6, 2014 3:57 AM CUT  In this handout image provided by the Republic of Korea Coast Guard, a passenger ferry sinks off the coast of Jindo Island on April 16, 2014 in Jindo-gun, South Korea. In this handout image provided by the Republic of Korea Coast Guard, a passenger ferry sinks off the coast of Jindo Island on April 16, 2014 in Jindo-gun, South Korea.Handout—Getty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 6, 2014 3:57 AM CUT Three [family members](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29910775 "undefined") of the businessman linked to the ill-fated South Korean Sewol ferry, which capsized in April and killed over 300 people, were sentenced to jail on charges of corruption Wednesday. Korean authorities say that graft may have contributed to the sinking of the vessel, which was illegally modified and overloaded. The boat was owned by the Chonghaejin Marine Company, in which the late tycoon Yoo Byung-eun had an interest, the _BBC_ reported. Yoo’s 44-year-old son Dae-kyun was convicted of embezzling $6.8 million from company funds and sentenced to three years in prison, and two of Yoo’s brothers were also handed jail terms of one and two years respectively on similar charges. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29910775 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3560170/sewol-south-korean-ferry-owner-yoo-byung-eun-chonghaejin-marine-yoo-dae-kyun/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3560170/sewol-south-korean-ferry-owner-yoo-byung-eun-chonghaejin-marine-yoo-dae-kyun/"},"headline":"Relatives of the South Korean Ferry Owner Have Been Jailed","datePublished":"2014-11-06T03:57:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:15:43.907Z","description":"A son and two brothers were convicted of embezzling funds","url":"https://time.com/3560170/sewol-south-korean-ferry-owner-yoo-byung-eun-chonghaejin-marine-yoo-dae-kyun/","keywords":["South Korea","corruption","Disaster","ferry"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa953a93ba6652cb/698764718e0601e16c45819a/485009219.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa953a93ba6652cb/698764718e0601e16c45819a/485009219.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"S. Korea Ferry With Hundreds Of Passengers Sinks","caption":"S. Korea Ferry With Hundreds Of Passengers Sinks","creditText":"Handout—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/south-korea/","name":"South Korea"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3560170/sewol-south-korean-ferry-owner-yoo-byung-eun-chonghaejin-marine-yoo-dae-kyun/","name":"Relatives of the South Korean Ferry Owner Have Been Jailed"}}]}] ```