SHOTLIST:

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (DEC. 01, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL)

1. VARIOUS OF PROTESTORS GATHERING NEAR PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE

2. VARIOUS OF BANNERS PREPARED BY PROTESTORS

3. MAN STANDING IN SILENCE

4. DEMONSTRATORS MAKING ANNOUNCEMENT

5. VARIOUS OF PROTESTORS HOLDING BANNERS

6. VARIOUS OF PROTESTORS ATTENDING MASS HEAD-SHAVING CEREMONY SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - DECEMBER 01: Families of victims of the Jeju Air crash held a head-shaving ceremony in front of South Korea’s presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul, on December 1, 2025, launching a three-day overnight sit-in.

The relatives, many dressed in black and holding photos of their loved ones, said the traditional act of shaving their heads symbolized both mourning and their determination to keep fighting for what they call a “real investigation.”

The protest targets the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB), which is probing last year’s Jeju Air crash at Muan International Airport, South Korea’s deadliest aviation disaster in decades. Families are demanding that upcoming public hearings and interim announcements be suspended until the ARAIB is fully separated from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and placed under a neutral body, such as the prime minister’s office.

Relatives say they have lost trust in the investigation, accusing authorities of rushing toward an official narrative that focuses on pilot error while downplaying possible regulatory failures, airport infrastructure issues and bird-strike risks.

They argue that once an interim version of events is presented at a public hearing, it will be extremely difficult to correct, even if later technical findings point to deeper systemic problems.

Pilot unions and several lawmakers have echoed the families’ concerns, urging the government to postpone the public hearing and to reform the ARAIB’s status so that it no longer sits inside the transport ministry it may have to scrutinize.

A legislative proposal to spin the board out as an independent body is pending in the National Assembly but has yet to make meaningful progress.

Officials at the land ministry and ARAIB insist the inquiry is being carried out in line with international standards and that the planned public hearing is intended to enhance transparency, not to close the case.