SEOUL — South Korean police said on Tuesday that a body found last month in the south of the country belonged to a fugitive businessman who headed the company that operated a ferry that capsized in April, killing more than 300 people. Police said at a press conference that a badly decomposed body found on June 12 had been identified by DNA evidence as well as fingerprints as that of Yoo Byung-un, who had been the subject of the country's largest manhunt.
Yoo was accused of embezzlement, negligence and tax evasion and has been the subject of a two-month nationwide manhunt. A reward of nearly half a million dollars had been offered. A police official said the body was found last month in a plum field in the southern city of Suncheon near a retreat where police have suspected Yoo may have been hiding. The positive identification came hours after prosecutors apologized on Monday for failing to capture Yoo, the country's most wanted man. The sinking of the ferry Sweol was the country's worst maritime disaster in 20 years.
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- Reuters