Seoul City Bans Cruise Operations Within Seoul for Company That Proceeded with 'Fireworks Show' Amid Disaster (Comprehensive)

Fireworks Show on Han River Cruise Ship on the Day of the Disaster on the 29th
Backlash on SNS and Public Opinion... CEO Apologizes
Seoul City "Requested Event Cancellation on the Day"

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has imposed a ban on Hyundai Marine Leisure from operating within the Seoul city limits on the Han River after the company held a fireworks show on a cruise ship on the same day as the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster.

Fireworks show held on a Han River cruise ship on the day of the Jeju Air passenger plane crash. X (formerly Twitter)

On the 30th, the city announced that Hyundai Marine Leisure is prohibited from operating Han River cruises within the Seoul city limits for six months. The city will also suspend all cooperative projects with Hyundai Marine Leisure. According to the administrative measure, Hyundai Marine Leisure will not be able to operate cruises on the Han River section from the Gyeongin Ara Waterway to Wonhyo Bridge until June next year. This company mainly operates cruises on the Ara Waterway and has conducted about 400 Han River cruises annually within the Seoul city limits.

Earlier, the city released a statement saying, "Despite the national mourning atmosphere and the city's request to cancel the event, Hyundai Marine Leisure went ahead with the Han River cruise fireworks show, and we will take strong administrative action against them."

A city official explained, "Until now, Hyundai Marine Leisure has cooperated in operating and promoting the Han River Hallyu Fireworks Cruise, which invites underprivileged groups free of charge, but since they ignored the city's opinion and proceeded with the operation, we decided to impose strong sanctions as we can no longer maintain cooperative projects based on mutual trust."

According to the city, after the Jeju Air passenger plane from Bangkok crashed at Muan International Airport the previous day, the city requested the company around 2:40 p.m. to cancel the event scheduled for that evening. However, the company said it was difficult to cancel due to prior reservations and operated the cruise starting at 6:30 p.m., proceeding with the event, which drew public criticism.

Kim Jin-man, CEO of Hyundai Marine Leisure, stated in an apology, "Despite the cancellation request from the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Future Han River Headquarters, I believe today's event should have been canceled. However, the fireworks conducted on the ship today were part of a contract with a foreign incentive group visiting Korea, making a unilateral cancellation on the day impossible," he explained.