President Lai expresses condolences to South Korea over plane crash

Taipei, Dec. 29 (CNA) Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Sunday expressed the government's condolences to South Korea after a passenger jet carrying 181 people crashed while landing at a South Korean international airport earlier Sunday, killing dozens of passengers, almost all of whom were Koreans.

No Taiwanese were on board the Jeju Air flight 7C2216 flying from Bangkok to Muan, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

Taiwan's Presidential Office says President Lai expressed his heartfelt condolences on behalf of the government and the people of Taiwan "to the families of those who lost their lives in the crash and wished a speedy recovery to the injured."

The flight was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members when it crashed while landing at the Muan International Airport in Muan County in the southwestern part of the country around 7 a.m. South Korea time.

The crash was reportedly caused by a landing gear malfunction, media reports quoted Korean officials as saying.

As of 2:42 p.m., at least 124 people on board the flight, namely, 173 South Koreans and two Thai nationals, were confirmed dead by rescuers, according to a Reuters report.

Meanwhile, MOFA said in its Sunday press statement that upon learning of the incident, its Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs chief Peter Lan (藍夏禮) extended the government's condolence toward South Korea representative to Taiwan Lee Eun-ho in Taipei, while Taiwan's top envoy to South Korea Liang Kuang-chung (梁光中) extended the government's sympathy to the South Korean government in Seoul.

Taiwan's representative in Seoul also managed to get in touch with Korean government authorities to confirm that there were no Taiwanese nationals on board the crashed flight, it added.

MOFA reminded Taiwanese living in or traveling to South Korea to call its representative office in Seoul in case of an emergency at +82-10-9080-2761 or its branch office in Busan at +82-10-4537-7961.

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