 "Honeymoons, first foreign trips and celebrations: Jeju Air crash leaves a trail of heartbreak")
Cries of anguish filled the lounge at Muan International Airport in South Korea on Monday as families anxiously awaited updates on relatives killed in the tragic Jeju Air plane crash over the weekend.
Grieving families, overwhelmed by desperation and anger, are urging authorities to expedite the formal identification of the victims’ remains so they can hold funerals and begin mourning their loved ones properly.
Many of the passengers in the Jeju Air crash were families on year-end trips, with some children experiencing international travel for the first time in their lives.
Among the passengers was a 43-year-old man surnamed Koh, who worked in the promotions department for the Kia Tigers professional baseball team. Koh, his wife, and their three-year-old son were on their first overseas family trip. In an Instagram post shared before the tragedy, Koh wrote, “My son’s heading overseas for the first time on a night-time flight… The extensive schedule exhausted me, but I’m happy because my son had a great time,” alongside a photo of his son gazing out the plane window.
Two newlyweds returning from their honeymoon were also among the victims, just two weeks after celebrating their wedding on December 13, as reported by the Straits Times.
A 32-year-old woman who was preparing for her own wedding next spring was another passenger who lost her life in the crash.
A father traveling with his two sons to Bangkok died in the tragedy. The trip had been a celebratory gesture for the elder son, who had recently been accepted into university.
A family in northeastern Thailand are mourning the loss of Jongluk Duangmanee, one of two Thai nationals of the Jeju Air crash, and wish to bring her body home for a religious ceremony.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsBoonchuay Duangmanee, 77, said he must come to terms with his 45-year-old daughter’s sudden death.
“I can only accept it, make peace with it,” he told state broadcaster Thai PBS. “No matter what I do, my daughter won’t come back.”
He had felt a “sense of unease” when neighbours told him of the Jeju Air crash, he added, as his daughter often travelled with the airline.
Jongluk, the third youngest in the family, had been working in South Korea for seven years and would visit her home in Udon Thani, about 500 km (310 miles) north of the Thai capital, every year.
Boonchuay said he wants to bring his daughter’s body home for a proper religious ceremony as other relatives gathered at the family’s home.
The Boeing 737-800, arriving from Thailand, crashed on Sunday during an emergency belly landing, colliding with a wall before bursting into flames. Of the 181 passengers and crew on board, only two survived.
South Korean officials said Monday they will conduct safety inspections of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines, as they struggle to determine what caused a plane crash that killed 179 people a day earlier.
Many people worry how effectively the South Korean government will handle the disaster as it grapples with a leadership vacuum following the recent successive impeachments of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s top two officials, amid political tumult caused by Yoon’s brief imposition of martial law earlier this month.
New acting President Choi Sang-mok on Monday presided over a task force meeting on the crash and instructed authorities to conduct an emergency review of the country’s aircraft operation systems.
The crash left many South Koreans shocked and ashamed, with the government announcing a seven-day national mourning period through Jan. 4. Some questioned whether the crash involved safety or regulatory issues, such as a 2022 Halloween crush in Seoul that killed 160 people and a 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people.
The political tumult resulted in the opposition-controlled National Assembly impeaching Yoon and Han. The safety minister stepped down and the police chief was arrested over their roles in the martial law inforcement.
The absence of top officials responsible for managing disasters has led to concerns.
“We are deeply worried whether the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters really can handle the disaster,” the mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said in an editorial Monday.
With inputs from agencies.
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
