Analysis
South
Korea plane crash tests political unity amid leadership crisis
Raphael
Rashid in Seoul and Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Incident
highlights potential risks posed to disaster response by instability at highest
level of government
Sun 29 Dec
2024 11.26 CET
As the year
draws to a close, South Koreans must have hoped for respite from the political
chaos visited on their country in recent weeks.
It was going
to take something out of the ordinary to overshadow Friday’s impeachment of Han
Duck-soo, the second South Korean leader to be removed from office by
parliament in a fortnight.
On Sunday
morning, the country was forced to confront the horrifying sight of a passenger
aircraft careering along the tarmac before smashing into a wall and bursting
into flames, reportedly killing all but two of the 181 people onboard.
The two
events that will come to define 2024 for a country hitherto celebrated for its
economic and cultural prowess are unrelated, of course, but it is impossible to
ignore the political backdrop to Sunday’s tragedy on the runway at Muan
international airport.
The incident
has highlighted the potential risks posed to disaster response by instability
at the highest level of government.
There were
encouraging signs in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. South Korea’s
rival political parties launched separate initiatives in response to the
disaster, apparently setting aside the animosity of recent weeks.
The
opposition Democratic party leader, Lee Jae-myung, left for Muan, where he
plans to stay indefinitely to support rescue efforts, the Hankyoreh newspaper
said, although he will stay away from the crash site while recovery operations
continue.
The ruling
People Power party, meanwhile, formed a taskforce focused on investigating the
crash and supporting victims’ families. The party’s acting leader, Kweon
Seong-dong, will visit Muan on Monday with taskforce members to “review
accident response measures and prevention strategies” and meet bereaved
families.
Within hours
of the crash, the acting president, Choi Sang-mok, arrived at the scene to
support emergency workers and offer words of comfort to more than 100 relatives
desperate for news about their loved ones. Some surrounded him, demanding
updates and pleading with him to put the families first. Choi could only bow
repeatedly while saying, “I understand”.
There was
anger, too, at what some saw as a slow response from authorities and the
airline. The families had pleaded to be allowed near the crash site since
Sunday morning, but were denied access due to the restricted nature of the
airport zone.
When Lee
Jeong-hyeon, the chief of Muan fire station, told families that most passengers
were presumed dead, the room erupted in wails of grief, according to the Yonhap
news agency. “Is there absolutely no chance of survival?” one family member
asked. Lee bowed and replied: “I am so sorry, but that’s what it’s looking
like.”
Choi’s
presence was a reminder that the worst aviation disaster on Korean soil
occurred at a time of unprecedented political turmoil, coming just two days
after he replaced the impeached Han.
The flames
that swept through the fuselage of the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 had barely been
extinguished when concerns were raised over the ability of a man who, even
while serving as acting president as of Friday continues in his roles as
finance minister and deputy prime minister, to respond effectively to the
disaster.
The
political uncertainty extends to the interior ministry – a vital coordinating
body in response to situations such as the Muan crash – which is being led by
an acting minister after his predecessor stepped down in the aftermath of this
month’s martial law debacle.
Choi
acknowledged the gravity of the situation in remarks he made at the airport.
“No words of consolation will be enough for the families who have suffered such
a tragedy,” he said, pledging that “the government will spare no effort in
supporting the bereaved families”.
The joyless
game of political revolving doors that catapulted an unwilling Choi to the
presidency 48 hours earlier began when Yoon Suk Yeol was suspended from the
presidency after attempting to impose martial law on 3 December. His
replacement, Han, was impeached by parliament on Friday over his refusal to
appoint judges to the constitutional court – the body that will decide Yoon’s
fate.
Beyond
managing Sunday’s aviation disaster, Choi has also inherited a barrage of other
immediate challenges: a currency that has plunged to its lowest level since the
2009 financial crisis, and heightened security concerns after several military
commanders were arrested over their alleged involvement in the martial law
plan.
The response
to the Muan disaster has drawn scrutiny from civic groups, including the
families of the 159 people killed in the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush in Seoul – a
tragedy compounded by the government’s inadequate emergency response.
On Sunday,
their representatives called for proper support for victims’ families,
including counselling and translation services for the relatives of the two
foreign victims onboard Jeju Air flight 2216 – both Thai nationals.
“Given the
political chaos of the insurrection situation and presidential impeachment,
acting president Choi must do his utmost to ensure there are no failures in the
government’s control tower role in responding to and managing this disaster”,
the group representing bereaved families of the Itaewon tragedy said in a
statement.
As the
families of the Jeju Air victims attempted to comprehend what had happened, the
Muan tragedy was quickly turning into a test of whether South Korea’s fractured
political landscape could find unity and compassion amid the devastation.
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