Jeju Air crash families demand justice amid investigation delays

The Dec. 29 Jeju Air passenger plane crash, which killed 179 of the 181 people on board, remains the deadliest aviation accident in South Korea. Nearly a year later, the cause of the crash is still unknown. The Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB), which operates under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, had planned to present its interim findings at a public hearing earlier this month, but the event was canceled after families of the victims protested. The families argued that what they described as a “self-investigation” by an ARAIB housed within the ministry could not be trusted, saying the agency itself was not free from responsibility for the disaster.

Since the crash, the victims’ families have called for the creation of an independent investigative body. About 10 days after the accident, a bill to transfer ARAIB to the Prime Minister’s Office was submitted to the National Assembly. Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties agreed that the agency needed to be independent from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. However, the bill only passed a subcommittee of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee earlier this month.

It took 11 months for the legislation to clear its first hurdle in the National Assembly because of disagreements within the committee. Some lawmakers urged caution, arguing that independence could weaken the continuity and expertise of the investigation and disrupt the organization of government agencies. Their remarks suggest that resistance to separating ARAIB from the ministry persisted despite mounting pressure from the victims’ families.

Government restructuring should be approached carefully. Yet in this case, the revision addresses a fundamental limitation of ARAIB. Established in 2002, the board’s investigation process is legally protected from ministerial interference. However, appointments and budgets are still under the minister’s control. Of the 12 board members, two standing members are senior ministry officials. Compared with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, which is fully independent from aviation policy and regulatory bodies, or Canada’s Transportation Safety Board, which reports directly to parliament, ARAIB’s independence is partial at best. Even the Korea Transport Institute, under the ministry, noted in a decade-old report on ARAIB’s long-term development that the objectivity of its investigations “could be questioned.”

Trust in the ministry and ARAIB is already low following the crash. When a concrete mound at Muan Airport was identified as a factor that worsened the impact of the accident, the ministry initially denied fault and said the structure complied with regulations. ARAIB also faced controversy in July after releasing preliminary findings that suggested possible pilot error.

The victims’ families have described ARAIB as a “misfitted button.” Years of silence followed by resistance to establishing an independent body, citing expertise and concerns about organizational disruption, only deepens suspicions that other motives are involved.

Although the first steps toward an independent ARAIB have been taken, delays in the investigation are unavoidable even if the revised bill is fast-tracked through the remaining legislative procedures. The legislation includes provisions that immediately terminate the terms of current board members, which means time will be needed to form a newly independent agency.

The lawmaker who proposed the bill stressed during the committee’s first session that “it would be as foolish as failing to repair the barn after losing the cow,” urging quick passage. Yet complacent attitudes among some lawmakers have delayed efforts to uncover the truth, prolonging the suffering of the victims’ families.