Some two years after the family members of the victims of the Sewol-ho ferry disaster first filed a compensation suit.... against the government and the vessel's operator,.... a local court finally released its verdict on Thursday. <br /> The Seoul Central District Court held the state and the operator, Cheonghaejin Marine, responsible for the tragedy.<br />It ordered them to pay compensation of some... 1-hundred-77-thousand U.S. dollars per victim.... and 35-thousand dollars for their parents. <br />Three-hundred-54 family members of 1-hundred-18 victims are the plaintiffs in the case.<br />They asserted that the state and the ferry operator were responsible for neglecting safety management.... and for not launching a swift rescue operation.<br />The Sewol-ho ferry capsized in waters off the southwestern island of Jindo back in April of 2014,... killing 3-hundred-4 people,... mostly high school students. <br />
