The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 2nd that it will provide 500 million won in relief funds for the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster. The relief funds will be designated and entrusted to the National Disaster Relief Association. Medical and relief supplies, counseling, volunteer personnel, and portable toilets will also be supported.
Medical supplies include approximately 16,000 pharmaceuticals and quasi-drugs, and about 4,000 Korean herbal medicines, totaling around 20,000 items. Emergency relief supplies such as 200 sets of blankets, underwear, and disposable items, as well as portable toilets and rest buses, will also be provided.
The city has secured 84 disaster psychology professional counselors through the Seoul Metropolitan Psychological Support Center and the Mental Health Welfare Center, and prepared one counseling bus. One thousand volunteers from the city's Disaster Response Volunteer Corps are also on standby. Counselors, buses, and volunteers will be dispatched if requested by the South Jeolla Province.
Earlier, on Dec. 29 last year, a Jeju Air passenger plane from Bangkok, Thailand, collided with the outer wall of the runway and exploded while landing at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province. Fire authorities announced that 179 of the 181 passengers died. The Seoul Metropolitan Government will operate a joint memorial altar for the victims in front of City Hall in Jung-gu until the evening of the 4th.