Air crash tests South Korea’s acting president

SEOUL: When South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok arrived at the scene of the deadliest air disaster on the country’s soil on Sunday, he had been on the job for less than 48 hours.

Choi, the country’s finance minister, became acting leader on Friday night after the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who had been acting president since President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached and suspended from power on Dec. 14 following his short-lived attempt to impose martial law.

The bewildering turnover at the top of Asia’s fourth-largest economy and one of its most vibrant democracies left the government scrambling when Jeju Air flight 7C2216 slammed into a wall at Muan International Airport on Sunday, killing most of the 181 people on board.

Choi visited the site a few hours after the crash and declared it a special disaster zone.

“The government would like to offer its sincere condolences to the bereaved families and will do its best to recover from this accident and prevent a recurrence,” he said.