Foreign Media: "Muan Airport Filled with Wails and Screams... 'Political Crisis' in Han Shocks the Nation"

Major Foreign Media Continue Follow-up Coverage
Political Crisis in Korea Also Draws Attention

"Muan International Airport was filled with wails and screams. It shocked South Korea, which is facing a political crisis. (The New York Times (NYT))"

"The whole world is expressing condolences to South Korea. This tragedy will be one of the two events that define South Korea's 2024, along with the state of emergency. (The Guardian)"

Yonhap News

Major foreign media continued follow-up reports on the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster that occurred on the 29th at Muan International Airport in Jeollanam-do, while noting that the tragedy happened amid a heightened political crisis in South Korea, including President Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of a state of emergency and the passage of an impeachment motion.

The NYT, which has been urgently reporting key news since immediately after the accident, confirmed in an article early morning on the 30th Korea time that all 179 passengers except for two crew members died, reporting it as "the deadliest disaster experienced by a Korean airline in decades and the worst aviation accident in South Korea."

The outlet conveyed the local atmosphere, stating, "Amid rampant speculation about the cause of the crash, Muan International Airport was filled with wails and screams," and "12 bodies were so severely damaged that their gender could not be immediately identified." It also added, "This tragedy shocked South Korea, which is in a political crisis due to President Yoon's martial law and the passage of the impeachment motion," and "It is even more shocking because there have been no fatal aviation accidents in South Korea since the 1990s."

Bloomberg also reported, "Only two crew members survived," and "It will be recorded as one of the deadliest accidents worldwide in the past decade." AFP reported that the wreckage of the passenger plane found in a field next to the runway revealed the devastating impact of the accident, noting, "The youngest passenger was 3 years old, and the oldest was 78." It also mentioned that a seven-day national mourning period has been declared until the 4th of next month.

The Washington Post (WP) reported that the surviving crew mentioned a bird strike, noting, "It is a relatively common event that can cause significant damage to passenger planes but rarely leads to a crash," focusing on the cause of the disaster. France 24 covered voices of experts questioning the possibility of a bird strike as the cause. The Times, AP News, and others also mentioned that Boeing, the manufacturer of the 737-800 involved in the accident, will suffer another blow to its credibility due to this incident.

The British daily The Guardian, in a separate analysis article, evaluated the tragedy as a "test of political unity amid a leadership crisis." The outlet cited the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster and the state of emergency as events that will define South Korea's 2024, a country previously praised for its economic and cultural power. It added, "(Although the two events are) unrelated, they reveal the potential risks that instability at the highest levels of government can have on disaster response," emphasizing that national response is crucial amid severe political division. CNN also reported, "The tragic passenger plane accident occurred amid a deepening political crisis in the South Korean government and uncertain national leadership."

Japanese media, including Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei), also prominently covered the accident on their front pages on the 30th, giving significant attention to South Korea's political turmoil and the presumed bird strike as the cause of the accident.