Nation in turmoil Disaster will be huge test for acting president

As the year draws to a close, South Koreans must have hoped for respite from the political chaos that has been visited on their country in recent weeks.

- Raphael Rashid Seoul Justin McCurry Tokyo

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.