The country still remains in a deep state of shock and sorrow over the ferry disaster,...
with 193 people now confirmed dead and 109 others unacccounted for.
Let's connect with our Shin Se-min at the news center for the latest,...
Se-min, the weather hasn't been on the search and rescue team's side in recent days.
How has this affected operations?
Yes, the conditions down in Jindo have definitely made things extremely difficult.
Heavy rain, high tides, fast currents and fog are all troubling factors...
hampering the rescue operation.
Currently, the official death toll stands at 1-hundred-93,... with four more bodies
being discovered...
during an early morning search operation at around 2 a.m., Korea time.
The bodies have not yet been identified,... but are presumed to be male students from
Danwon High School.
Going back to the conditions down at the site, rain clouds are clearing out,... which should
help search crews, but the sea conditions will worsen,... with currents forecast to
reach speeds of up to 2-point-4 meters per second.
In terms of the search operation,... a diving bell is expected to be deployed on Tuesday
afternoon for the second time since last week's accident.
A diving bell was set to be deployed last Saturday,... but strong currents made it difficult
for the equipment to be utilized,... forcing emergency crews to pull it back out.
If and when the diving bell is set properly, it will allow divers to continue their underwater
search for up to 20 consecutive hours.
So far,... only one third of the Sewol-ho ferry's one-hundred-11 cabins have been searched.
The divers are mainly focused on searching the fourth floor of the vessel,... where most
of the missing passengers are believed to be, and where they also found some of the
bodies over the last several hours.
Right,... and many of the missing are thought to be on the left side of the ship... as the
ferry listed to the left as it sank... those will be the spots the divers will focusing
on...
Now, Se-min... new video footage of the early stages of the sinking have been released...
quite shocking I would say...
Tell us more about that
Yes, it really does.
The video released by the maritime police shows the first crucial moments of the rescue
efforts,... and it shows the captain and some of the crew being among the first to get off
the sinking ferry.
Now,... the central focus of the footage is the period between 9:43 a.m. and 9:49 a.m.
This footage CLEARLY shows captain Lee Joon-seok and his crew leaving the ferry without attending
to passengers.
It's difficult to distinguish him as the captain,.... as Lee jumps into the rescue boat in his boxer
shorts WITHOUT his uniform on.
By 9:35 a.m., all 15 crew members have started to abandon their ship,... but as you can see,
hardly any passengers are seen on the deck of the ferry, raising criticism the crew didn't
properly instruct them to leave the ship.
Still more questions than answers at this point unfortunately.
What about the criminal investigations that are ongoing at this moment.
What do we know so far?
Yes, there are a number of investigations under way.
One is looking into the link between Kim Han-sik , the president of the Chonghaejin Marine
Company, and Yoo Byung-eon , the practical owner of the ferry company.
Kim was summoned for questioning Tuesday morning,... for the first time since the ferry disaster.
Prosecutors are looking into whether he was involved in any business irregularities,...
such as embezzlement, dereliction of duty and tax evasion,... in connection with Yoo.
The possibility that Kim managed slush funds for Yoo Byung-eon is also being investigated.
Investigators have been taking a long look at Yoo,... and raided four offices in Seoul,
Daegu and in Gyeonggi-do province on Monday looking for evidence of paper companies.
They also raided the Mokpo Coast Guard Station,... suspecting officers there of neglected their
duties in the early stages of the rescue.
Also three members of the Korea Shipping Association have been arrested, over claims that they
destroyed evidence in relation to the case.
Investigations into whether the ferry had malfunctioning life boats on board will also
broaden,... as five life boats were recently found floating near the scene,.. indicating
they began to work MUCH later than they should have.
Normally, a functioning life boat would automatically deploy after coming under external pressure.
That's all I have for now,.. but I will keep you updated throughout the day.