Manhunt for tycoon owner of sunken ferry

South Korea is offering a reward for information about a mysterious missing billionaire who authorities say owns a ferry that sank last month, leaving more than 300 people dead or missing.

The disappearance of Yoo Byung-eun and his son has caused a media frenzy in South Korea. Yoo is a member of a church that critics call a cult and have linked to a 1987 mass suicide.

Yoo, 73, was thought to be holed up in a sprawling church compound near Seoul, and there was a tense, days-long stand-off between police and hundreds of church followers, some of whom reportedly threatened to die as martyrs.

Yoo was not there when church members finally opened the compound to authorities on Wednesday. It is believed he might have fled to the home of a church follower.

Prosecutors and police then announced a 50m won (€37,000) reward for information about Yoo’s location, and 30m won (€21,000) for details about his eldest son.

Yoo, head of the now-defunct predecessor of the ferry’s current operator Chonghaejin, allegedly still controls the company through a complex web of holding companies in which his children and close associates are large shareholders. Prosecutor Kim Hoe-jong said authorities believe Yoo is the chairman of Chonghaejin.

Yoo faces allegations of tax evasion, embezzlement, and professional negligence. Prosecutors suspect that the April 16 ferry sinking might have happened because Chonghaejin illicitly funnelled profits to Yoo’s family, and so failed to spend enough money on safety and personnel. His son, Yoo Dae-gyun, faces embezzlement allegations.

Chonghaejin’s official leader, chief executive Kim Han-sik, and four other employees have already been arrested.

Officers at the National Police Agency said they have begun a massive manhunt to capture Yoo.

A team of about 150 veteran detectives and police officers has been established. Tens of thousands of posters of Yoo and his son, and information about rewards, have been plastered on bus terminals, train stations, and other public places. Officers who capture Yoo or his son will be promoted by one rank.