Westchester Man Extradited On Charges S. Korea Links to Ferry Disaster

POUND RIDGE, NY — The businessman who has been wanted for nine years by authorities in South Korea has been extradited from the U.S. to face charges some government officials say are linked to the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster.

Yoo Hyuk-kee was arrested at his Pound Ridge home in July of 2020, according to a New York Times report. He has fought extradition back to South Korea ever since.

Yoo Hyuk-kee, who goes by the name Keith Yoo, was taken into custody on arrival in South Korea, where he faces embezzlement charges the government has linked to the family's interest in companies tied to the ferry.

A lawyer representing Yoo told Patch, however, that in the South Korean government's desperation to find a villain in this emotionally charged story threatens to destroy an innocent man's reputation.

"We are deeply disappointed by the State Department’s decision to grant South Korea’s request to extradite Keith Yoo," Attorney Shawn Naunton said in a statement. "We have fought Keith’s extradition vigorously for three years because Keith is innocent. He will not receive a fair trial in South Korea because the administration of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye falsely slandered Keith as a fugitive. Keith Yoo was never a fugitive and South Korea’s charges are an improper political prosecution disguised as the pursuit of alleged financial crimes."

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the 50-year-old's attempt to block the extradition.

Naunton said that after Yoo's extradition to South Korea, the fight to clear Yoo's name and protect his safety are even more urgent.

"We call on the United States Congress, the State Department, and all international human rights organizations to closely monitor the conditions of Keith Yoo’s incarceration in South Korea as well as his upcoming trial," Naunton said. "This is necessary to ensure Keith is not subjected to mistreatment that violates the United Nations Convention Against Torture, like members of Keith’s family were while incarcerated in South Korea. Keith intends to vigorously fight the charges against him in South Korea, and Keith, his family, his friends, and his supporters will never stop fighting to prove his innocence.

The Sewol ferry capsized in April of 2014, killing 304 people, including 250 children who were on a school trip, according to Reuters. South Korean accident investigators said the vessel was both structurally unsound and overloaded at the time.

The ship was financially linked in media reports to companies controlled by Yoo Byung-un, Keith Yoo's father, who eluded authorities for two months after the accident until he was found dead.

South Korea’s Justice Ministry said in a statement that Yoo’s return marks the end of the efforts to bring those who were fugitives overseas related to the Sewol disaster back to the country.

Yoo’s sister was extradited from France in 2017 and served out a jail sentence, according to the South China Morning post. Another son of Yoo Byung-un was sentenced to prison on charges the government has linked to the ferry disaster. Two other people brought back to South Korea to face justice were high-level executives at companies held by the family, the newspaper reported.

South Korean prosecutors allege that Keith Yoo took part in defrauding and embezzling from companies controlled by the family. Officials have publicly alleged that the family member's diversion of money contributed to the Sewol operator's financial deterioration, which led to the neglect of ship management, safety training and the loss of life at sea.

This story was updated to include a statement from Yoo's attorneys and was edited to clarify both the nature of the charges against those prosecuted and the level of the family's financial ties to the company that owned and operated the ferry.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.