South Korea’s leading low-cost carrier, heavy with debt and its stock already near record lows, is now facing intense public and government scrutiny.

After overcoming pariah status at the end of the last century, South Korea must learn what caused the catastrophe on Dec. 29 and what lessons to draw from it.

The sounds of sobbing, prayers and anguish echoed through the departures hall of an airport in southwestern South Korea on Monday as families of the victims aboard a passenger jet that crash landed over the weekend waited for their loved ones to be identified.

The Jeju Air plane crashed after coming off the runway. It hit a concrete wall at Muan International Airport in the south west of the country. So far, officials are reporting at least 179 people had died and two survived.

Joo Jong-wan, the deputy transport minister for civil aviation, acknowledged that safety measures were not sufficient when building the embankment, but said they were done in line

South Korea plans to review the concrete walls positioned just beyond the end of some airport runways after an aircraft attempting an emergency landing smashed into one just over a week ago, killing almost everyone on board.

South Korea's government said on Monday it will extend the shutdown of Muan International Airport by a week to Jan. 14, citing the ongoing investigation into the crash of a Jeju Air jet that killed 179 passengers on board.

South Korea’s transport minister is resigning because he feels “heavy responsibility” for the Jeju Air crash that killed 179 people last month. A Jeju Air aircraft carrying 181 passengers and crew crashed at the Muan international airport on 29 December in what was the country’s worst air disaster.