Lee orders thorough probe into belated discovery of remains of Jeju Air crash victims

President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday ordered a thorough investigation into the recent discovery of additional remains of victims of the Jeju Air plane crash in late 2024, voicing regret over their belated recovery. Last month, authorities discovered nine pieces of remains presumed to belong to the victims in a reexamination of the wreckage site, prompting the victims' families to protest outside the presidential office this week to condemn the disaster recovery process. Lee instructed a "thorough" probe to determine why the remains were not found in the early stages of the recovery process and why they were left at the site for more than a year, according to Lee Kyu-yeon, the presidential secretary for public relations. He also called for "severely reprimanding" those responsible and to swiftly carry out the ongoing investigation into the crash, the presidential aide said in a briefing. "Looking back, there were clear shortcomings. (We) will identify those responsible and make sure that this does not happen ever again," the aide said. The Jeju Air crash on Dec. 29, 2024, killed 179 passeng