December 26, 1995
Web posted at: 11:00 p.m. EST (0400 GMT)
SEOUL, South Korea (Reuter) - The owner of Seoul's Sampoong department store which collapsed in June, killing more than 500 people, was sentenced to 10 1/2 years in jail Wednesday, Yonhap news agency reported.
Lee Joon, 73, was found guilty of criminal negligence. His son, Han-sang, the store's president, was sentenced to seven years, Yonhap said.
Prosecutors had demanded a 20-year jail term for the father and seven years for his 42-year old son on the same charges. The trial began in August.
The sudden collapse of the fashionable store was one in a series of man-made disasters in South Korea, many of which were blamed on inadequate construction and corruption. Several Seoul city officials face bribery charges relating to the collapse.
One of the country's worst peacetime disasters, the collapse led to public hand-wringing over the human cost of South Korea's breakneck economic growth.
The Seoul city government has offered compensation of up to $257,400 for relatives of each of the dead.
Related Brief
| CONTENTS | SEARCH | CNN HOME PAGE | MAIN WORLD NEWS PAGE |
Copyright © 1995 Cable News Network, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
