On the 15th, the chairperson of the Special Committee for the Truth and Reconciliation of the December 29, 2024, Passenger Plane Disaster presides over a plenary session of the committee at the National Assembly. [Photo=Yonhap News]
December 2024 was a month that plunged the entire nation into profound shock and sorrow, marked by unprecedented political upheaval and a major disaster in the history of the Republic of Korea's constitutional affairs.

Following President Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of martial law on December 3rd, an impeachment motion was passed in the National Assembly plenary session on the 14th with 204 votes in favor out of 300 present, suspending the president's duties.

Around mid-December, a fishing boat capsized off the coast of Shinan County, Jeollanam-do, resulting in the disappearance and death of its crew. Subsequently, on the 29th, a horrifying incident occurred when a Jeju Air passenger plane en route from Bangkok exploded upon landing at Muan International Airport, claiming the lives of 179 people.

The "Pilot Error" Frame Fabricated by the Democratic Party and the Media

On December 29, 2024, at Muan International Airport in Jeollanam-do, Jeju Air flight 7C2216 veered off the runway during an emergency landing attempt, collided with the airport's outer wall, and exploded. Of the 179 crew members and passengers on board, only two survived, with 179 losing their lives in the major disaster.

Despite the fact that families returning from their Christmas holiday were caught in the explosion at the airport, they were left to wail, relying solely on media reports as they did not receive an accurate explanation of the situation from the government in the early stages of the accident.

The Democratic Party, which held the initiative in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the National Assembly at the time of the accident, focused on highlighting "pilot error in engine operation" and the airline's responsibility, rather than investigating the cause of facility deficiencies. At that time, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Democratic Party created the frame that "the pilot turned off the normal engine," and the media reported on "pilot negligence."

This was a classic method of shifting the blame for the accident from systems or facilities to "individual error," by heavily disseminating investigation findings suggesting that the pilot mistakenly shut down the functioning left engine instead of the right engine, which had been damaged by a bird strike, thus causing the crash.

Furthermore, the majority of media outlets cited unconfirmed information from the investigation phase, publishing reports stating that "the pilot appeared flustered and showed unskilled operation" or "lacked sufficient training in handling emergency situations."

What the Democratic Party and the media sought to cover up was the painful truth that even if the pilot had made a mistake, people could have survived if the national infrastructure had not been faulty. However, the truth was buried by this cunningly imposed frame, and the cause of the accident seemed to have been concluded as pilot error in engine operation.

Nevertheless, the bereaved families strongly protested, asserting that the deceased pilot was being falsely accused and viewed this narrative as an attempt to conceal the state's responsibility for facility management. They began a struggle to reveal that the dangerous concrete embankment at the end of the runway was the decisive cause of the 179 deaths.

Name Change to "Jeju Air Accident" Highlights Airline Responsibility

At the time, the president was suspended from duty, and the government was operating under an acting president. Amidst the rapid political changes, including preparations for an early presidential election in June of the following year, the accident investigation was pushed down the priority list, and the truth-finding process not only progressed slowly but had practically come to a standstill. Related agencies, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Airports Corporation, fearing legal and economic compensation liabilities that might arise if problems with facility design and construction were exposed, stifled the independent activities of the investigation committee and refused to submit data.

That was not all. As experts, bereaved families, and the general public pointed to the "concrete embankment" at Muan Airport as the core cause of the accident, the name of the accident itself was changed.

This incident, which was initially referred to as the "Muan Airport Accident," began to highlight airline responsibility when the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport used the term "Jeju Air passenger plane accident" in its press releases from the afternoon of the accident. A frame was thus created.

Subsequently, in line with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Democratic Party's policy to attribute the cause of the accident to the private airline, such as defects in the aircraft's structure or pilot error in engine operation, rather than to the airport's location or facility flaws, the name emphasizing "Jeju Air" has been maintained until recently to limit the scope of the incident to the airline and individual issues.

Though the Dead Cannot Speak, the Heavens Know

However, the truth began to emerge on the 8th when SBS exclusively obtained and reported on the final results of a research service officially commissioned by the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to the Korea Engineering Structures Institute in March of the previous year. This report revealed for the first time to the world the shocking analysis that "if the concrete embankment had not existed, all 181 occupants would have survived."

As public opinion surged following SBS's report, on December 22nd of last year, Kim Eun-hye, a member of the People Power Party and the opposition party's co-rapporteur for the parliamentary inquiry that began on December 22nd, acquired the original report published by SBS and internal documents from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport through an internal tip-off from a current ARAIB official. In the parliamentary inquiry, Rep. Kim directly presented these documents, providing concrete evidence that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had systematically concealed the facility defect for 10 months, despite being aware of it.

Based on this concrete evidence, Rep. Na Kyung-won of the People Power Party criticized the government's alleged cover-up, stating, "The state killed its citizens and then hid the truth in a drawer." Jang Dong-hyuk, the leader of the People Power Party, declared, "The main culprit of the disaster is the concrete embankment," and strongly advocated for severe punishment of those responsible and the introduction of a special prosecutor.

Consequently, while SBS opened the door to the truth, opposition committee members, including Rep. Kim Eun-hye, played a decisive role in turning the incident from the "pilot error" frame to "state responsibility" by meticulously uncovering the hidden evidence within. Although the pilot, who had to bear a false accusation, had already passed away and could not speak, the heavens did not allow the truth to remain buried.

Background of the Concrete Embankment... Kim Dae-jung and Han Hwa-gap

In the ongoing parliamentary inquiry into the Muan Airport disaster in January 2026, the process of uncovering the background of the "concrete embankment," the fundamental cause of the accident, has brought to light the forced airport construction drive by the then-government, which extended from former President Kim Dae-jung (DJ) to former Millennium Democratic Party (Democratic Party) leader Han Hwa-gap.

Muan International Airport, a key infrastructure project and a long-cherished goal for Honam, Kim Dae-jung's political home, commenced construction in 1999 with full government support during the Kim Dae-jung administration.

Furthermore, it is alleged that Han Hwa-gap, then leader of the Democratic Party and considered the "second-in-command" of the Donggyodong faction and a local representative, exerted practical influence, leading to the tacit approval or forceful implementation of the installation of a localizer protection facility that violated international safety standards, i.e., a concrete embankment, in order to expedite the airport's opening and achieve administrative results.

At the time of commencement, "Mokpo City and Shinan County, Jeollanam-do" was Han Hwa-gap's constituency, but starting with the 16th general election in the following year, 2000, Muan County, where Muan Airport is located, was incorporated into his constituency (Muan County and Shinan County, Jeollanam-do).

The opposition People Power Party criticizes, stating, "At the time, the administration prioritized the outward completion of the airport over compliance with safety regulations to gain favor with the voters in the Honam region, resulting in the installation of a fatal concrete structure in the runway end safety zone, which should not have been there."

The current parliamentary inquiry is investigating how design decisions made decades ago led to the current major disaster, and examining whether political influence originating from the Kim Dae-jung administration distorted the airport's fundamental safety design.

The bereaved families, the People Power Party, and public opinion are urging for the truth to be revealed, defining this incident not as a mere aviation accident, but as a "political man-made disaster" where past deep-rooted evils, disregarding safety for political purposes, led to a tragedy decades later.

By Reporter Park Hye-soo