The National Assembly Holds First Meeting of Passenger Plane Disaster Special Committee... "Fact-Finding and Relief Measures to Be Established"

Voices Raised Against Secondary Harm and Regional Disparagement
Current Issues Inquiry Targeting Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Scheduled for Next Month's 6th

The National Assembly held the first meeting of the Special Committee (Special Committee) on the investigation of the passenger plane disaster on December 29 and the relief of victims and bereaved families, promising to identify the cause of the disaster and support the bereaved families.

On the morning of the 16th, at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Kwon Young-jin, a member of the People Power Party and the chairman of the Special Committee for the Investigation of the 12.29 Passenger Plane Disaster and Relief for Victims and Bereaved Families, is speaking at the plenary meeting. Photo by Yonhap News.

At the Special Committee meeting held on the 16th at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Special Committee Chairman Kwon Young-jin said, "I express my deep condolences and sympathy to the victims who lost their precious lives and their bereaved families due to the passenger plane disaster on December 29 last year," adding, "The Special Committee will do its best to thoroughly investigate the facts related to this disaster and prepare practical measures to prevent recurrence." He also emphasized, "We will prepare relief and support measures to provide substantial help to the victims and their families and ensure thorough memorial projects," and "We will also expedite the special law related to victim relief and support measures."

Voices condemning secondary harm to victims and bereaved families were raised at this meeting. Moon Geum-ju, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, "There are incidents causing greater wounds to victims and bereaved families online," and requested, "Please stop causing further harm and share the pain of neighbors." Chairman Kwon responded, "There is secondary harm such as malicious comments and fake news against victims and bereaved families on the internet and social networking services (SNS)," adding, "A resolution urging mediation and strict punishment of secondary harm has been proposed to the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee and is expected to be passed."

There was also criticism that the name of the disaster should not include a region, due to concerns it could lead to regional disparagement. Democratic Party member Wi Seong-gon proposed, "I suggest removing specific regional names to avoid wasting energy on unnecessary conflicts." Chairman Kwon replied, "We excluded the name of any specific region from the Special Committee’s title," and expressed gratitude to Representative Wi for the good suggestion.

Although conflicts between the ruling and opposition parties are intense, the Special Committee was formed by consensus. The National Assembly held a plenary session on the 8th and approved the formation of the Special Committee with 272 votes in favor out of 275 members present. The Special Committee’s term is until June 30. The committee consists of 15 members: 7 from the People Power Party, 7 from the Democratic Party, and 1 from a non-negotiating group. At the meeting, the committee appointed Kim Eun-hye of the People Power Party as the ruling party’s secretary and Lee Soo-jin of the Democratic Party as the opposition party’s secretary.

The Special Committee plans to discuss the cause of the disaster, support measures for bereaved families, and recurrence prevention measures. At the meeting scheduled for the 6th of next month, they plan to conduct inquiries targeting the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and others. Park Han-shin, representative of the Jeju Air Disaster Bereaved Families Association, said at the previous day’s full meeting of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, "The bereaved families still do not know why their loved ones were driven to such a tragic death," and requested, "We ask for special attention including the prevention of all aviation accidents from recurring."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.