Fugitive dead... Or is he?

[Bob Of Burleson]

Fugitive South Korea Ferry Owner Found Dead

By John Power, Contributor
The Christian Science Monitor

Seoul, South Korea — South Korean police ended an unprecedented manhunt Tuesday without a live suspect, but with what they said was the body of the wealthy businessman wanted for months over the Sewol ferry disaster.

The answer to the mystery of Yoo Byung-eun's whereabouts might have been expected to bring a measure of closure to a nation gripped by anger, disillusionment, and grief. Mr. Yoo is the alleged owner of the ferry that sank on April 16 with the loss of nearly 300 people, mostly high school students. Instead, the body's identification has unleashed skepticism and full-blown conspiracy theories from a public whose faith in public institutions was badly shaken by the disaster.

Police told local media Tuesday that the heavily decomposed body of Yoo, who had eluded arrest since May, had been identified through DNA and fingerprint testing after it was first discovered in a plum field on June 12 in Suncheon, some 250 miles south of Seoul. Local reports suggested that the body had been initially mistaken for a homeless person. They also said police did not suspect foul play in Yoo's death.

Korean internet users questioned how authorities could have taken some six weeks to realize they had found Yoo, a religious figure, artist, and businessman whose face was on wanted posters plastered across the country for months. They noted that the 73-year-old Yoo was a teetotaler according to his church, but his body was reportedly found surrounded by bottles of alcohol. Some even speculated that Yoo is alive and still on the run.

Some South Koreans saw the news of the body's discovery as an attempt to direct attention away from a recent government bill to allow hospitals engage in greater profit-making activities, a controversial move in a country with a system of universal health insurance.

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