Family members of the victims in the deadly Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 crash are seen crying at the Muan International Airport on Monday. | Yonhap via The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
Many of the 175 passengers that passed away in the Jeju Air flight 7C 2216 crash on Sunday had been families on year-end trips, some of whom were children traveling overseas for the first time in their lives.
Among them was a 43-year-old man surnamed Koh, who worked at the promotions department for the Kia Tigers professional baseball team. Koh, his wife, and his 3-year-old son had been on their first overseas trip as a family.
“My son’s heading overseas for the first time on a night-time flight. … The extensive schedule (of the trip) exhausted me, but I’m happy because my son had a great time,” Koh wrote on his Instagram page, telling details about their trip to Bangkok with a photo of his son looking out the window.
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Retired pitcher Kim Byung-hyun, who briefly played for the Tigers, paid his respects to the deceased and his family on his social media page.
“I’ve been pressing ‘like’ for pictures of my friend, his wife, and their 3-year-old son, having great time in Thailand. … It gives me great pain, and my condolences goes to all the bereaved family members (of the victims),” he wrote on Instagram.
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Sportscaster Jeong Woo-yeong of SBS Sports paid a tribute on his Instagram page for Koh and his family.
“He (Koh) was great at his work, and the entire baseball broadcast team liked him. Me among them, of course. … I want to pay condolences for him, his family, and the Tigers,” he wrote.
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Honeymoon
A newlyweds returning from honeymoon were also among the victims of the crash, just two weeks after tying the knot at a ceremony on Dec. 13.
A 32-year-old woman who was about to get married next spring was also among those who took the flight.
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A father who took his two sons on a trip to Bangkok was found to have died in the tragedy as well. The family was celebrating the elder son recently being accepted to university.
A 30-year-old reporter at a Gwangju-based media outlet was one of the passengers of the flight 7C 2216, along with her 33-year-old husband.
The vacation was a reward from the reporter’s company, during which she posted a photo of a hotel swimming pool in Bangkok on her Instagram saying, “The weather here is so great, it’s like early summer.”
Overseas trip
A 50-year-old woman aboard the flight took the trip after surviving a yearlong cancer treatment. It was her first overseas trip since her honeymoon with her husband, who had passed away three years ago.
The oldest victim in the accident, a 79-year-old man, was returning from a trip that was arranged by his family. His wife, two daughters and one of his son-in-laws, his granddaughter and three grandsons were also on board.
Forty-one of the passengers aboard the flight were on the return leg of a package tour that left Muan International Airport on Christmas night.
Of the 175 passengers, 103 were aged at least 50, while 14 were under the age of 20.
The Ministry of Education on Monday announced that four of the victims were in elementary school, three in middle school, three in high school, and one was attending a local daycare center.