Muan County Assembly pulls banner after misspelling president's name, drawing backlash from Jeju Air crash families

The Muan County Assembly in South Jeolla Province drew backlash from families of victims of the Jeju Air disaster after a banner it hung to thank President Lee Jae-myung misspelled his name. The assembly took down the banner, attributing the error to the printing company.

According to the bereaved families' council of the Dec. 29 Muan Airport Jeju Air crash, the banner — issued in the name of the Muan County Assembly — was posted on the outer wall of the second floor of Muan International Airport on Saturday.

The banner read: "We are deeply grateful for President Lee Jae-myung's order to reopen Muan International Airport as soon as possible."

Earlier, on Aug. 3, the Muan County Assembly had issued a statement urging the reopening of Muan International Airport, which had been shut down following the Jeju Air crash. The following day, President Lee directed a Cabinet meeting to accelerate the reopening process in consultation with the bereaved families as soon as the search for victims' remains was complete.

In response, the county assembly had the banner made to express gratitude for the government's action.

In a statement, the bereaved families' council said that hanging a banner to thank the president while getting his name wrong "goes beyond a simple typo and shows the Muan County Assembly's indifference and irresponsibility toward the disaster and local safety." The council urged the assembly to take a more active role in efforts to establish the truth, hold those responsible accountable and put in place measures to prevent a recurrence.

The Muan County Assembly said the president's name had been misspelled due to an error by the advertising company hired to produce the banner. However, it acknowledged responsibility for failing to verify the content before it was posted and said it would remove the banner.

Muan County Assembly Speaker Lim Yun-taek said the assembly "should have checked before posting it" and called it "a serious mistake," adding that he would communicate with the bereaved families and join efforts to establish the truth.

Meanwhile, on Dec. 29, 2024, a Jeju Air passenger jet arriving from Bangkok attempted a belly landing at Muan International Airport and collided with a localizer facility, killing 179 of the 181 people on board.