S.Korean ferry disaster: France frees daughter of magnate

Paris

Daughter of a South Korean baron-- Yoo Som-Na--, blamed for a ferry disaster that killed over 300 people was let free by a French court today after Seoul had requested her extradition, her lawyers said. 

"Taking into account the political context, the threats to the presumption of innocence... [the court] decided to release" Yoo while waiting for further information, said her lawyers in a joint statement. 

"It's a relief after 13 months of unjustified detention," said the statement from lawyers Olinka Malaterre, Herve Temime and Rachel Lindon.

A court in Paris in January authorised her extradition, but the appeals court overturned the decision in April, meaning that her case would have to be reconsidered by a lower court.

Yoo, 48, is wanted in South Korea on suspicion that she embezzled millions of dollars from subsidiaries of her family's company, Chonghaejin Marine Co.

Authorities there believe the alleged embezzlement contributed to safety defects that led to the April 2014 Sewol ferry disaster which claimed more than 300 lives, most of them schoolchildren.

Yoo's father Yoo Byung-Eun had been the target of a nationwide manhunt after he refused to respond to an official summons following the ferry disaster.