South Korea sets seven-day national mourning period for plane crash

The South Korean government has decided to declare a seven-day national mourning period in connection with the passenger plane crash at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province in southwestern South Korea.
Choi Sang-mok, acting president, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Strategy and Finance, held a press conference at the Government Complex in Seoul on the 29th.
At the 3rd Meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters held in Tokyo on Wednesday, January 4th, it was announced that "the government will designate the seven days from today until midnight on January 4th as a national mourning period."
During this mourning period, joint memorials will be set up at the accident site and in 17 municipalities, including South Jeolla Province, Gwangju City, Seoul City, and Sejong City.
All ministries, local governments and public institutions will fly mourning flags and civil servants will wear mourning ribbons.
"I feel sad and sorry that we cannot provide a special memorial service to the victims," he said, expressing his intention to designate Muan County as a special disaster area and provide necessary support. He also said that he would set up and operate an integrated support center at the site and provide one-stop support to the bereaved families.
He also stressed that the government will provide comprehensive support to the victims. In addition, Choi said, "We will assign a dedicated public official to each family and work to ensure that the victims' identities are promptly identified through forensic investigators at Muan Airport."
Choi promised that the Central Accident Response Headquarters established in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism will work with the Air and Railway Accident Investigation Committee to thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident and clarify who is responsible.
He also stated his intention to make every effort to quickly and transparently disclose information to the bereaved families and the public, and to develop measures to prevent a recurrence.