Welcome to NHK Newsline. I'm Ramin Mellegard in Tokyo.
South Korean fire authorities say 120 people have been confirmed dead in a plane crash at an airport in the country's southwest. Fire department officials said they presume almost everyone aboard except two who were rescued have perished.Footage shows the aircraft skidding on his belly and veering off a runway before crashing into a structure and bursting into flames. A South Korean low-cost carrier Jeju airplane crashed at Won International Airport shortly after 9:00 AM on Sunday. Government officials say the plane was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members. The passengers include 173 South Koreans and two Thai nationals. The company's CEO held a news conference to apologize for the deadly plane crash.
It's difficult to speculate on the cause of the crash at this point. We need to wait for the findings of the government's investigation, regardless of the cause of the accident. I feel full responsibility as the CEO.
Kim said his company will make the utmost efforts to support the bereaved families and to cooperate with the government on finding the cause of the crash. Yonhap News Agency reported that the accident occurred during the plane's second attempt to land. Fire department officials say the aircraft's landing gear didn't work properly and the pilots tried to make a belly landing.
And we're now joined by NHK World's Kim Chan-joo, who's been covering the story at the Muan Airport. Chan-joo, can you tell us more about the crash?
Local media say it's the worst plane accident by a domestic airline in South Korea's history. As you can see behind me, a blue sheet is covering the area so that rescue work is not exposed to the media. Also further away, you can see the tail of the aircraft has been completely burnt.
Firefighters and police officers are constantly coming and going, sometimes carrying stretchers. All domestic and international flights here have been canceled since the crash.
Government officials say the airport's control tower warned of a bird strike to the airplane when it attempted to make a landing, but the accident occurred just a couple of minutes after the pilot declared a mayday. The area around this airport has many rice fields and wetlands, making it a haven for birds.
A collision with the bird during take-off or landing could cause critical damage to engines and landing gear. At the airport, there is a team that chases away wild animals or birds using blank or live ammunition when they appear near the runway. But migratory birds move in flocks in the winter, so the risk of collisions is higher.
And how is the government responding to the incident?
The government has set up a headquarters to coordinate its response. The accident happened as the country is embroiled in political turmoil. The government is now led by Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Choe Sang-mok. He is serving as the acting president as the Prime Minister was suspended from his duties on Friday. Choi arrived at the site several hours after the crash and ordered related ministries and agencies to make all out efforts for rescue operations and to support the victims families. Jeju Air started flights between Bangkok and Muan just a few weeks ago. Local media say residents in this area have found it easier to travel abroad as they don't need to use bigger airports. But now people across the whole country are in deep sorrow over this horrible accident.
Thank you very much. That was NHK World's Kim Jang-ju.
Now, local media report that a joint investigation team may seek a warrant to detain him if he continues to ignore their requests.
The team, which includes police investigators aims to question Yoon on suspicion of insurrection and other offenses. They had requested Yoon to appear at 10:00 AM Sunday, but the scheduled time has already passed.
The investigators reportedly plan to continue waiting for a while longer. Now this is the third time the joint team has summoned Yoon. He did not comply with the two earlier requests. Yoon's legal team pointed to issues such as multiple authorities conducting simultaneous investigations. His lawyers expressed concerns about Yoon appearing for questioning, saying it is not clear which organization has the right to investigate.
Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court opened a trial on Friday to decide whether to uphold the motion passed by Parliament to impeach Yoon. The Yoon's lawyers have indicated that they will give priority to their response to the impeachment trial.
Japan Coast Guard officials say Chinese government ships have been appearing near Japanese territorial waters more often than ever. They say vessels were spotted in the contiguous zone off the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea on a record 353 days this year.
The officials say 4 Chinese government ships were navigating in the contiguous zone. As of 12:00 AM on Sunday, the number of days when Chinese ships were spotted in the zone is the highest since 2008, when vessels were first confirmed to be navigating there. The officials say that confirmed 39 cases as of Saturday, where Chinese government vessels had entered Japan's territorial waters around the Senkakus. That's almost the same number as in the past few years. They say in 18 of these cases.
Vessels tried to approach Japanese fishing boats. This ties the record marked in 2021. Japan controls the Senkaku Islands. China and Taiwan claimed them. The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory in terms of history and international law. It says there's no issue of sovereignty to be resolved over them.
Senior Japan Coast Guard official Sakamoto Seishiro said the situation remains grave, but he vowed to ramp up monitoring and vigilance to safeguard Japan's territorial waters.
But ceasefire and hostage release negotiations between Israel and Hamas remain stalled. Rally participants urged the government to advance negotiations to secure the release of the hostages. They also made a call for the release of all remaining hostages simultaneously, not in phases.
A male participant said four relatives, including his brother, were killed, while another brother in his 50s was held captive.
We continue to do the best struggle that we can, and we are not give up for all the hostages.
Of the 100 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been confirmed dead, but Israel is demanding all of them be released.
And those are the top stories for this hour.
And that is a wrap for this edition of NHK Newsline. I'm Ramin Mellegard. Thank you very much for joining us.
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