Prosecutors in South Korea are blaming the head of a ferry boat company and four other company officials for the disastrous sinking that killed more than 300 people.
At a preliminary hearing Friday in Gwangju, CEO Kim Han-sik and four other managers were accused of neglecting safety and training standards and causing the ship to be overloaded with too much cargo.
Prosecutors also allege the 6,800 ton ferry was regularly overloaded with cargo resulting in a $3 million profit to the ferry company in 2013.
The vessel Sewol capsized and sank April 16, killing mostly high school students who were on a field trip from Incheon to Jeju.
The ship's captain, Lee Joon-seok, has already been charged with "homicide through willful negligence" and faces a possible death sentence.
Eleven crew members who were on board the vessel at the time it went down face lesser negligence charges.
Shortly after the disaster, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said that the actions of the crew were "tantamount to murder".
At a preliminary hearing Friday in Gwangju, CEO Kim Han-sik and four other managers were accused of neglecting safety and training standards and causing the ship to be overloaded with too much cargo.
Prosecutors also allege the 6,800 ton ferry was regularly overloaded with cargo resulting in a $3 million profit to the ferry company in 2013.
The vessel Sewol capsized and sank April 16, killing mostly high school students who were on a field trip from Incheon to Jeju.
The ship's captain, Lee Joon-seok, has already been charged with "homicide through willful negligence" and faces a possible death sentence.
Eleven crew members who were on board the vessel at the time it went down face lesser negligence charges.
Shortly after the disaster, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said that the actions of the crew were "tantamount to murder".