After the Sewol sank with 304 dead, the man prosecutors called its real owner fled, was found dead in a plum field, and the state went after his family's assets

The ferry Sewol capsized on 16 April 2014 with 476 people aboard, most of them students from Danwon High School. 304 died. Its operator was Chonghaejin Marine. Prosecutors alleged that Yoo Byung-eun, co-founder of the Evangelical Baptist Church in 1962, controlled the company through cross-shareholdings, with his two sons holding the shipping firm through I-One-I Holdings. He did not appear for questioning. An arrest warrant was issued on 22 May 2014, and the reward reached 500 million won. Police found his decomposed body in a plum field in Suncheon in June 2014 and confirmed his identity in July by DNA, dental and fingerprint checks. The cause of death was not determined. NBC News reported that civic groups criticised the six-week delay in identifying "the nation's most-wanted fugitive." The government put its costs at 403.1 billion won and sought to seize the assets of Yoo and Chonghaejin, and the Seoul Central District Court ordered seizures in July 2014. His eldest daughter, Yoo Som-na, 48, was arrested in Paris on 27 May 2014 on an Interpol notice, suspected of receiving funds from a Chonghaejin affiliate through her design firm. France extradited her in June 2017. A notice was also issued for her brother Hyuk-kee, a US permanent resident. The outcome of the state's claims against the family's assets by 2026 is not confirmed^†.