24 pieces of remains believed to be from victims found in Jeju Air crash reinvestigation
Published: 12 Mar. 2026, 20:52
![Officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board and the scientific investigation unit of the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency inspect the Jeju Air plane crash wreckage stored behind the airport fire station at Muan International Airport on March 12. [BEREAVED FAMILIES ASSOCIATION FOR THE JEJU AIR PASSENGER PLANE DISASTER AT MUAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/03/12/6719ff8d-98bf-41d1-ba06-a2ddbdcae86e.jpg)
Officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board and the scientific investigation unit of the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency inspect the Jeju Air plane crash wreckage stored behind the airport fire station at Muan International Airport on March 12. [BEREAVED FAMILIES ASSOCIATION FOR THE JEJU AIR PASSENGER PLANE DISASTER AT MUAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT]
Additional remains believed to be from the victims of the 2024 Jeju Air passenger plane disaster were found during a renewed inspection of wreckage on Thursday.
Twenty-four pieces of remains were found at the site of a joint reinspection being carried out by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board and the scientific investigation unit of the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency.
The largest piece measures about 14 centimeters (5.5 inches).
One piece was found in the aircraft’s right wing, and six pieces were found in debris sacks that had been collected by the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board shortly before an on-site visit by the National Assembly's special committee for a parliamentary investigation in January.
The rest were identified from the wreckage recovered in the early stages of the disaster response.
A total of 33 pieces of remains have been found so far in the reinspection process that began in February. Of them, nine pieces were confirmed through DNA analysis by the National Forensic Service to be from six victims.
![The wreckage of the Jeju Air aircraft lies near a concrete structure that it crashed into at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla on Dec. 30, 2024. [REUTERS/YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/03/12/158c9266-0a99-44c6-96a0-0d846ecb39fb.jpg)
The wreckage of the Jeju Air aircraft lies near a concrete structure that it crashed into at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla on Dec. 30, 2024. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
Bereaved families raised the possibility that the initial recovery effort may have been mishandled, given that remains continue to be found in wreckage, which had been left unattended for a long time.
“There are circumstances suggesting that the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board hurriedly cleared away the remaining wreckage out of concern that more remains might be found during the National Assembly special committee’s on-site inspection for the parliamentary investigation,” said Kim Yu-jin, the head of the bereaved families association. “I feel anger and emptiness at the thought that the remains had been left unattended for more than a year.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK JONG-SUH [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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