Captain Lee Joon-seok, captain of a ferry that capsized killing more than 300 people, was given a 36-year prison sentence Tuesday for negligence and abandoning his passengers more than half a year later, according to Reuters.
The verdict came amid continuing grief and finger-pointing over one of the worst disasters in South Korean history, according to the Associated Press.
Family members of the victims, most of whom were teenagers, immediately criticized the sentence for Capt. Lee Joon-seok and other crew members as too lenient, the AP reported. Lee could have received a death sentence for the homicide charge.
The Gwangju District Court in southern South Korea acquitted Lee of a homicide charge because it was difficult to believe that he knew his actions would cause such a huge number of deaths, according to a court statement, according to the AP.
"Do you know how many children are dead?" one relative shouted out during the sentencing, according to Kook Joung-don, a lawyer for the relatives, the AP reported. The court statement also said that Lee had issued an evacuation order.
The ferry named Sewol capsized while making a turn on a routine voyage to the holiday island of Jeju, according to Reuters. The vessel was later found to be defective, with additions made to increase passenger capacity making it top-heavy and unstable.
Lee has apologized for abandoning the passengers, but said he didn't know his actions would lead to so many deaths, according to the AP.
The court sentenced the ship's chief engineer to 30 years in prison and 13 others to up to 20 years in prison, the court statement said, Reuters reported.
Lee, 69, will technically be eligible for parole after serving one-third of his prison sentence, according to an anonymous source, the AP reported.
