The Seoul government announced on the 30th that it will take strong administrative actions against Hyundai Marine Leisure, which proceeded with a fireworks event on the day of the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster. The city noted that it requested the cancellation of the event for mourning purposes, but the request was not accepted.
On this day, the Seoul government said, "(The previous day) around 2:40 p.m., we requested Hyundai Marine Leisure to cancel the scheduled event," adding that "Hyundai Marine Leisure stated that the event was already booked, making it difficult to cancel, and proceeded with the fireworks cruise around 6:30 p.m." The city then said, "We immediately ordered the cancellation of the event scheduled for the 31st."
The "Han River Hallyu Fireworks Cruise" event took place the previous evening near the Han River in Yeouido, Seoul. This event was part of the "2024 Han River Festival" organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Han River Future Bureau, but was criticized as inappropriate due to the large-scale disaster that occurred. Hyundai Marine Leisure issued an apology in the name of CEO Kim Jin-man the previous evening, stating, "We apologize for causing controversy by holding an event during a time when everyone is mourning."
Earlier, on the morning of the previous day, a Jeju Air passenger plane arriving from Bangkok, Thailand, collided with an outer wall and exploded while landing on the runway at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province. According to the fire authorities, out of 181 passengers, 179 people died, except for two who were rescued.