French court okays extraditing South Korean linked to ferry disaster

A French court approved Tuesday extraditing to South Korea the daughter of a tycoon blamed for the deadly 2014 Sewol ferry disaster, although the prime minister must now sign off on the decision.

Even if Prime Minister Manuel Valls gives his approval for the extradition of Yoo Som-Na over the catastrophe that killed more than 300 people, the decision can still be contested in France's highest administrative court.

Yoo is wanted in South Korea on suspicion that she embezzled millions of dollars from subsidiaries of her family's company, Chonghaejin Marine Co.

South Korean authorities believe the alleged embezzlement contributed to safety defects that led to the April 2014 ferry disaster which claimed the lives of 304 people, most of them schoolchildren.

Yoo was detained in Paris in May 2014.
Source: AFP