It was going to take something out of the ordinary to overshadow Friday's impeachment of Han Duck-soo, the second South Korean leader to be removed from office by parliament in a fortnight.
Yesterday, the country was forced to confront the sight of a passenger jet careering along the tarmac before hitting a wall and bursting into flames, killing all but two of the 181 people onboard.
The two events that will come to define 2024 for a nation once celebrated for its economic and cultural prowess are unrelated, but it is impossible to ignore the political backdrop to the tragedy at Muan international airport.
The incident has highlighted the potential risks that instability at the highest level of government poses to disaster response.
There were encouraging signs in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. South Korea's rival political parties launched separate initiatives in response to the disaster, apparently setting aside the animosity of recent weeks.
The opposition Democratic party leader, Lee Jae-myung, left for Muan, where he plans to stay indefinitely to support rescue efforts, the Hankyoreh newspaper said, although he will stay away from the crash site while recovery operations continue.
The ruling People Power party, meanwhile, formed a taskforce focused on investigating the crash and supporting victims' families.
This story is from the December 30, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 30, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Everton to stage three test games at new stadium
Everton are to stage the first game at Bramley-Moore dock stadium next month in preparation for their move to the Liverpool waterfront.
Rooney horror show
Plymouth scrap documentary after manager's departure
Hagi sparks Rangers to easy derby win and leaves Celtic baffled
Celtic's job is to prove this Old Firm outcome is nowhere near as significant as Rangers would like it to be.
Fan shame Rodgers riled after Engels struck by coin at Ibrox
Celtic’s manager, Brendan Rodgers, believes Arne Engels was close to sustaining a serious eye injury after a coin thrown from the Ibrox stands towards the end of Rangers’ 3-0 Old Firm victory struck the Belgian midfielder on the head.
The sad story of Aleksey Bugaev ends with his death in war
Talented defender, who starred at Euro 2004, opted to fight in Ukraine rather than serve a long prison sentence
Arteta has nowhere to hide as sickness and injuries begin to bite
Arsenal must negotiate eight more matches this month with a 'thin squad' but started well by winning at Brentford
Swiatek has too much for battling Boulter and puts Great Britain out
Over the course of the past 18 months, by far the most rewarding period in her blossoming career, Katie Boulter has gradually established herself as one of the best players in the world.
Djokovic keeps his Monfils run going with record 20th win
Novak Djokovic extended the most dominant head-to-head record in tennis by defeating Gaël Monfils 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International.
Van Gerwen races into final with total demolition of Dobey
It was early in 2019 that Michael van Gerwen leaned forward in his chair and told us he was going to dominate darts for a decade.
'It is reaching a stage when sport is too big and too rich for mere humans'
Back in 2000 the media's finest were hit and miss with their predictions on the unfolding of sport's future
