A girl in Seoul, South Korea, holds a candle during a service paying tribute to the victims of the sunken ferry Sewol on Wednesday, April 30. More than 200 bodies have been found and nearly 100 people remain missing after the ferry sank April 16 off South Korea's southwest coast. 
People pay tribute to victims at a memorial altar in Ansan, South Korea, on Tuesday, April 29. 
A police officer holds an umbrella for a relative of a missing ferry passenger Monday, April 28, in Jindo, South Korea. 
South Korean Buddhists carry lanterns in a parade in Seoul on Saturday, April 26, to honor the memory of the dead and the safe return of the missing. 
Divers search for people in the waters near Jindo on April 26. 
People in Ansan attend a memorial for the victims on April 26. 
A diver jumps into the sea near the sunken ferry on Friday, April 25. 
A relative of a passenger weeps while waiting for news of his missing loved one at a port in Jindo on April 25. 
People attend a memorial for the victims at the Olympic Memorial Hall in Ansan on Thursday, April 24. 
Yellow ribbons honoring the victims flap in the wind as a hearse carrying a victim's body leaves Danwon High School in Ansan on April 24. Most of the people on board the ferry were high school students on their way to the resort island of Jeju. 
People attend a memorial for the victims at Olympic Memorial Hall in Ansan. 
Search personnel dive into the sea on Wednesday, April 23. 
Flares light up the search area on Tuesday, April 22. 
The sun sets over the site of the sunken ferry on April 22. 
A relative of a ferry passenger prays as she waits for news in Jindo on April 22. 
The search for victims continues April 22 in the waters of the Yellow Sea. 
Rescue workers in Jindo carry the body of a passenger on Monday, April 21. 
Divers jump into the water on April 21 to search for passengers near the buoys that mark the site of the sunken ferry. 
A relative of a passenger looks at the lists of the dead on April 21. 
Search operations continue as flares illuminate the scene near Jindo on Sunday, April 20. 
Relatives of missing passengers grieve April 20 in Jindo. 
Relatives of passengers look out at the sea from Jindo on April 20. 
A relative of a missing passenger struggles with a policeman as he tries to march toward the presidential house in Jindo on April 20 to protest the government's rescue operation. 
Police officers in Jindo stand guard Saturday, April 19, to prevent relatives of the ferry's missing passengers from jumping in the water. Some relatives said they will swim to the shipwreck site and find their missing family members by themselves. 
Family members of missing passengers hug as they await news of their missing relatives at Jindo Gymnasium on April 19. 
South Korean Navy Ship Salvage Unit members prepare to salvage the sunken ferry and search for missing people on April 19. 
Oil from the sunken ferry appears near the wreckage site on April 19. 
Lee Joon Suk, the captain of the Sewol, is escorted to the court that issued his arrest warrant Friday, April 18, in Mokpo, South Korea. 
Offshore cranes wait near buoys that mark the location of the sunken ferry on April 18. 
A U.S. helicopter takes off from the flight deck of the USS Bonhomme Richard during search-and-rescue operations on April 18. 
A woman cries as she waits for news on missing passengers April 18 in Jindo. 
A searchlight illuminates the capsized ferry on Thursday, April 17. 
The ship's captain, Lee Joon Suk, arrives at the Mokpo Police Station in Mokpo on April 17. His head and face covered, he broke down in tears when reporters asked whether he had anything to say. 
A woman cries during a candlelight vigil at Danwon High School in Ansan, South Korea, on April 17. 
Rescue personnel dive April 17 during search operations. 
Family members of passengers aboard the sunken ferry gather at a gymnasium in Jindo on April 17. 
The body of a victim is moved at a hospital in Mokpo on April 17. 
Relatives of a passenger cry at a port in Jindo on April 17 as they wait for news on the rescue operation. 
South Korean coast guard members and rescue teams search for passengers at the site of the sunken ferry on April 17. 
A relative of a passenger cries as she waits for news on Wednesday, April 16. 
Rescue teams and fishing boats try to rescue passengers on April 16. 
Relatives check a list of survivors April 16 in Jindo. 
Relatives of missing ferry passengers wait for news at a gym in Jindo. 
Rescue crews attempt to save passengers from the ferry on April 16. 
A South Korean coast guard helicopter lifts passengers off the vessel on April 16. 
Police and rescue teams carry a passenger at the port in Jindo on April 16. 
A relative waits for a missing loved one at the port in Jindo. 
Parents at Danwon High School search for names of their children among the list of survivors. Ansan is a suburb of Seoul, the South Korean capital. 
Helicopters hover over the ferry as rescue operations continue April 16. 
A man in Seoul watches a news broadcast about the sinking vessel. 
Officials escort rescued passengers April 16 in Jindo. 
A passenger is helped onto a rescue boat on April 16. 
A passenger is rescued from the sinking ship on April 16. 
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- The government is moving to revoke the ferry operator's business licenses
- Cheonghaejin Marine Company operated the ferry that sank last month off the South Korean coast
- Authorities have arrested the company's chief executive; he faces charges including causing death by negligence
- Searchers have recovered 269 bodies from the sunken ferry; another 35 people remain missing
Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- South Korean authorities are cracking down on the company that operated the passenger ferry that sank last month, a disaster that killed hundreds of people and shocked the nation.
The chief executive of Cheonghaejin Marine Company, the ferry operator, was arrested Thursday and is facing charges including causing death by negligence, said Yang Joong-jin, a senior prosecutor in the investigation.
At the same time, the government has begun to take steps to revoke the company's business licenses, the the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said.
The planned measures are aimed at taking away the licenses of the company for all its routes, including the one on which the Sewol passenger ferry sank, leaving more than 260 people dead and dozens still missing.
Most of the dead and missing are students, all from the same high school, who were taking the ferry to the resort island of Jeju for a field trip.
The stunning loss of life has shaken South Korea, raising troubling questions about safety standards and government oversight of businesses. President Park Geun-hye has apologized over the government's handling of the disaster and pledged to overhaul safety systems to try to prevent accidents in the future.
Excess cargo blamed
Kim was arrested in connection with allegations that excessive cargo a played a role in the April 16 sinking, Yang said. Investigators have said the amount of cargo, more than double the ferry's limit, and the failure to tie it down properly was partly responsible for the sinking of the Sewol, which was carrying 476 passengers and crew.
Speaking to reporters Thursday with his face covered, Kim apologized for the disaster.
"Victims of Sewol ferry and their bereaved families, I am sorry, I am sorry. I have committed crime that can only be paid back with my life," he said in comments broadcast on South Korean broadcaster YTN.
Several other of the company's employees have been indicted in the case, along with the ship's captain and more than a dozen crew members. Authorities have searched the company's offices as part of the criminal investigation.
'Serious problems'
The government, meanwhile, plans to take away the company's licenses for all its routes, including the one on which the Sewol sank, said Nam Jae-heon, an official at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
"Normally, we would cancel route by route, but in this case of Chonghaejin Marine Co., it is not just the route that is problem ... there are serious problems with firm's entire business practices," Nam said.
"We have decided not to wait for the investigation results from the prosecutor, as would have been the standard practice, but to go ahead with the revocation of the business licenses as soon as possible since there is enough evidence out there to support the revocation," he said.
Chonghaejin Marine didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from CNN.
At least 269 people died in the disaster, which happened while the ferry was traveling from Incheon to Jeju, off South Korea's southwestern coast. Thirty-five people still are unaccounted for, according to the country's coast guard.
Search continues
Divers are still searching the submerged vessel for the missing people, braving frigid waters, strong currents and corridors clogged with debris. Last week, one of the divers died while working to recover bodies.
The ill-fated voyage trip wasn't the first time the ferry had an excess cargo, a joint investigation team told reporters earlier this week.
Since the Sewol began the Incheon-Jeju route in March 2013, the ferry carried excess cargo 139 times, investigators said.
Cheonghaejin Marine earned an extra 62 million South Korean won ($62,000) for the excess cargo on the April 16 voyage, and nearly 3 billion South Korean won ($2.9 million) in extra profit for all of the excess cargo that the ferry carried since March 2013, investigators said.
Journalist Stella Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea; Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from London
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