Regarding the Jeju Air passenger plane accident that occurred at Muan International Airport on the 29th, it was revealed that Muan County in South Jeolla Province sent an emergency disaster text message to local residents nearly three hours after the incident. There are criticisms of 'delayed response.'
According to the National Disaster Portal operated by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Muan County sent an emergency disaster text message at approximately 11:48 a.m. that day, stating, 'Traffic around Muan Airport is congested due to a plane crash, please detour.'
Considering that the Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 explosion and fire incident occurred at 9:03 a.m. when the aircraft attempted to land on the runway at Muan Airport, it took 2 hours and 45 minutes to send the 'emergency disaster text message.'
According to the 'Disaster Text Broadcasting Standards and Operation Regulations' of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, it is stipulated that 'when there is a human or property damage due to a disaster, the disaster information input staff must quickly access the disaster text broadcasting system and input the information.' However, considering the 2 hours and 45 minutes delay, it is difficult to see it as rapid.
Due to this delay, while the accident occurred and urgent situations such as accident recovery and rescue efforts were unfolding, local residents in Muan had to learn about the accident through news or social media (SNS).
An official from Muan County said, '(The emergency disaster text message) was delayed because the person in charge urgently went to the scene to handle the accident, and there were too many related phone calls,' and added, 'We will respond immediately in the future. We apologize.'
Meanwhile, Yeonggwang County near Muan County brought controversy upon itself by sending content unrelated to the criteria for sending emergency disaster text messages.
At around 1:51 p.m. that day, Yeonggwang County sent a text message twice in the name of Yeonggwang County Mayor Jang Se-il stating, 'I and the public officials of Yeonggwang County will do our best to support accident recovery. We offer deep condolences and comfort to the victims and their families suffering indescribable pain and grief due to the Muan Airport aircraft accident.'
However, the criteria set by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety for sending disaster text messages are limited to ▲disaster response information according to weather warnings ▲information related to natural or social disasters ▲disaster information from user agencies agreed upon in advance with the Ministry ▲and other information recognized as necessary by the disaster text broadcasting officer. The condolences from the Yeonggwang County Mayor are considered inappropriate against these standards and have drawn criticism.