7 Ministry Officials Forwarded Over Systematic Cover-Up of Muan Airport Localizer Issues Despite Knowing Violations

[Anchor]

Regarding the Muan Airport passenger plane disaster that claimed 179 lives, police have forwarded seven officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to the prosecution. Investigators found that these officials were aware the airport's localizer, a navigational aid, was installed in violation of regulations, yet intentionally fabricated documents claiming it was installed lawfully.

Reporter Jeong Jiyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

On December 30 and 31, 2024, immediately following the Muan Airport plane crash.

These are reference materials distributed to the press corps by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on two occasions.

The headline read, "The localizer at Muan Airport has been installed in accordance with relevant regulations."

The ministry explained that because the Muan Airport localizer was installed outside the runway safety area, regulations requiring it to be "constructed with materials and structures easily breakable upon aircraft collision" did not apply.

However, the National Police Agency's special investigation unit concluded that following consecutive media reports pointing out problems with the localizer struck by the crashed aircraft, the ministry selectively cited and interpreted only favorable provisions while omitting unfavorable ones to draft the reference materials.

[Handong / Head of the Special Investigation Unit for the Muan Airport Disaster: Meetings were continuously held at the accident response headquarters. There are records showing that a meeting lasted for over three and a half hours. Yet, they completely omitted these details when creating the press reference materials. Therefore, we are left with no choice but to suspect intentional omission.]

Police pointed out that they also confirmed circumstances indicating the ministry systematically covered up the issues, such as formulating defensive arguments regarding the illegality of the localizer to evade responsibility even afterward.

Consequently, the special investigation unit forwarded the seven ministry officials who drafted or final-reviewed the documents to the prosecution without detention on charges of creating and uttering false official documents.

Bereaved families of the disaster strongly criticized the outcome, calling it "a tail-cutting investigation that excluded high-ranking officials such as the minister and vice minister."

[Kim Yujin / Representative of the Bereaved Families Association: Our stance is that the true nature of how many cover-ups took place, and the organized attempts to manage and rush through the aftermath of the disaster, must be fully brought to light.]

The special investigation unit stated that it plans to continue its investigation to determine the exact causes of the disaster.

(Video Reporter: Yang Jihoon, Video Editor: Yoon Taeho, Design: Park Cheonwoong)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.