by Our Foreign Desk

LEE JOON SEOK, the ferry captain responsible for last year’s disaster that killed more than 300 people, mostly schoolchildren, had his prison term increased to life yesterday.

He had been sentenced by a district court in November to 36 years in jail for negligence and abandoning passengers in need.However, the Gwangju High Court convicted him of the additional charge of homicide yesterday, increasing his sentence to life.

Victims’ relatives had criticised the original verdict, calling it too lenient, while prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Mr Lee.A court statement explained that Mr Lee had committed “homicide by wilful negligence” because he had fled the ship without giving any evacuation order, though he, as captain, is required by law to take measures to rescue his passengers.

“For whatever excuses, it’s difficult to forgive Lee Joon Seok’s action that caused a big tragedy,” the court observed.

The court sentenced 14 other crew members to prison terms ranging from 18 months to 12 years. They had been given five to 30 years in prison in November.

Mr Lee and the crew had sparked fierce public anger because they were among the first people rescued from the ship when it began badly listing on the day it sank a year ago.

Most of the victims were teenagers who were travelling to a southern island on a school trip.

The captain claims to have issued an evacuation order, but survivors report that they were told repeatedly over a loudspeaker to stay on the ferry.