Police refer seven Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport officials over Muan Airport plane crash, citing alleged fabrication of false documents

[Financial News] Police have referred seven Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport officials to prosecutors on suspicion of drafting and distributing false documents claiming that the localizer (LLZ) at Muan Airport had been installed in compliance with relevant regulations shortly after the Dec. 29 plane crash. Investigators believe the officials selectively cited only provisions favorable to the ministry while omitting rules that would have worked against the localizer installation.
According to the Special Investigation Team for the Dec. 29 Plane Crash under the National Office of Investigation on the 26th, the team referred seven ministry officials suspected of falsifying official documents to prosecutors the previous day.
The officials are accused of drafting and distributing, twice, a press reference titled, "The localizer at Muan Airport was installed in accordance with relevant regulations," even though they knew on Dec. 30 and 31, 2024, the day after the accident, that the Muan Airport localizer had not been installed in line with the relevant rules. Investigators said the document was sent to 479 reporters covering the ministry.
The special investigation team launched the probe while verifying allegations raised by lawmakers and bereaved families at the National Assembly Special Committee on the State Investigation into the Dec. 29 Plane Crash, which claimed the ministry had downplayed or concealed the cause of the accident. The team later reviewed the relevant legal framework and regulations, and searched the ministry office and related individuals.
Police concluded that the Muan Airport localizer did not meet domestic and international standards because it was not installed in a breakaway structure that would easily collapse in the event of a collision. A localizer is one of the components of an instrument landing system (ILS) and provides directional guidance to help aircraft land. At the time, the Muan Airport localizer had a concrete foundation structure.
The Detailed Guidelines for Aviation Obstacle Management require some navigation safety facilities, including ILS equipment, to be designed and manufactured as breakaway structures and mounted on breakaway supports. The Airport Safety Operating Standards also stipulate that navigation facilities installed within 240 meters of the runway end in the landing zone of CAT-I, II and III precision approach runways must be breakaway structures and should be installed as low as possible. Muan Airport is a CAT-I precision approach runway and falls under classification No. 4. Relevant ICAO rules also set standards to reduce the risk of collision for facilities within 300 meters of the runway end. Han Dong-hoon, head of the special investigation team, explained that "under the relevant standards, the localizer must be installed as a breakaway structure, regardless of whether it is inside or outside the runway end safety area."
Police determined that the ministry deliberately omitted unfavorable regulations from the press reference and distorted the interpretation of some provisions. The first document did not include the rule requiring ILS and other navigation safety facilities to be installed as breakaway structures, and the second document also cited other provisions while leaving out the rule applicable to facilities within 240 meters of the runway end.
Investigators also found signs that the ministry was aware of those regulations and the localizer problem when it prepared the press reference. The probe found that media reports had already raised questions about the relevant rules and the structure before the document was written, and that the ministry had reviewed the regulations in an internal meeting. Police also secured testimony that an opinion was raised during the meeting stating that the localizer should be a breakaway structure even if it was outside the runway end safety area.
It was also confirmed that an internal document prepared by the ministry around Jan. 6 last year, about a week after the press reference was distributed, was delivered to KAC. The document reportedly said the ministry would review the necessity of the concrete structure and, if no justification could be found, acknowledge its illegality at an appropriate time.
This investigation concerns the press references drafted and distributed after the accident, while the separate probe into possible negligence resulting in death or injury, aimed at determining the cause of the crash and assigning responsibility, is continuing. Police have so far booked and are investigating a total of 74 people in connection with the disaster. The special investigation team plans to continue the remaining probe, excluding technical issues that require findings from the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board, while coordinating with prosecutors. Han said the main investigation could continue until as early as October, or as late as the end of the year, depending on the progress of the case.
The Dec. 29 plane crash occurred at around 9:03 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2024, when Jeju Air Flight 2216, bound for Muan International Airport, veered off the runway during an emergency landing. Of the 181 people on board, 179 were killed. Police formed the special investigation team on Jan. 28 and took over the case from the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency's investigation headquarters.
[email protected] Kim Ye-ji Reporter