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South Korea Plans to Overhaul Airport Structures after Fatal Jeju Air Crash

The wreckage of the Jeju Air aircraft that went off the runway and crashed lies at Muan International Airport, in Muan, South Korea, December 30, 2024. (Reuters)
The wreckage of the Jeju Air aircraft that went off the runway and crashed lies at Muan International Airport, in Muan, South Korea, December 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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South Korea Plans to Overhaul Airport Structures after Fatal Jeju Air Crash

The wreckage of the Jeju Air aircraft that went off the runway and crashed lies at Muan International Airport, in Muan, South Korea, December 30, 2024. (Reuters)
The wreckage of the Jeju Air aircraft that went off the runway and crashed lies at Muan International Airport, in Muan, South Korea, December 30, 2024. (Reuters)

South Korea said it planned to improve the structures housing the antennas that guide landings at its airports this year after December's fatal crash of a Jeju Air plane, which skidded off the runway and burst into flames after hitting such a structure.

The country's transport ministry, which has been inspecting safety conditions at airlines and airports since the Boeing 737-800 jet crashed at the southwestern Muan airport, announced the move to change the so-called "localizer" structures on Monday.

Seven domestic airports, including Muan, were found to have embankments or foundations made of concrete or steel that needed to be changed, the ministry said in a statement.

It added that it would prepare measures to improve the structures by this month and it aimed to complete the improvements by the end of 2025. It did not provide details of the planned improvements.

Aviation safety experts have criticized the placement of the embankment at Muan airport and said it likely raised the death toll of the crash, which killed 179 of the 181 people on board.

The government has also finished its inspection of six domestic airlines flying Boeing 737-800s, and found violations at some operators including exceeding the period of inspection pre- and post-flight, and non-compliance with procedures to resolve plane defects or passenger boarding.

The transport ministry declined to comment on whether Jeju Air was among the airlines where violations were found. A Jeju Air spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.

A special safety inspection of the country's major airport facilities will also take place between Jan. 13-21, the ministry statement said.

The government also extended the shutdown of Muan airport to Jan. 19, the ministry said in a separate statement.

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Iran, European Countries Hold ‘Frank, Constructive’ Talks to Break Nuclear Stalemate

Majid Takht-Ravanchi briefs Iran’s National Security Committee on the results of the second round of dialogue with the European countries early last month. (Iranian parliament)
Majid Takht-Ravanchi briefs Iran’s National Security Committee on the results of the second round of dialogue with the European countries early last month. (Iranian parliament)
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Iran, European Countries Hold ‘Frank, Constructive’ Talks to Break Nuclear Stalemate

Majid Takht-Ravanchi briefs Iran’s National Security Committee on the results of the second round of dialogue with the European countries early last month. (Iranian parliament)
Majid Takht-Ravanchi briefs Iran’s National Security Committee on the results of the second round of dialogue with the European countries early last month. (Iranian parliament)

Talks between Iran and European powers in Geneva regarding Tehran's disputed nuclear program were serious, frank and constructive, high level Iranian diplomats said, just a week before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

European Union diplomat Enrique Mora said he held a “constructive meeting” with Iranian deputy foreign ministers Kazem Gharibabadi and Majid Takht-Ravanchi in Geneva on “exploring ways for a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue.”

For his part, Gharibabadi posted on X that he and Takht-Ravanchi held open and constructive discussions with Mora and his team.

“We exchanged views mainly on nuclear and sanctions lifting as well as other issues of mutual interest,” he wrote.

“We also addressed Europe’s support for Israeli crimes in Gaza,” Gharibabadi said.

The Iranian delegation and the three European powers, Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, met in Geneva on Monday.

“Against a challenging context, we discussed concerns and reiterated our commitment to a diplomatic solution. We agreed to continue our dialogue,” they said in a statement posted on their X accounts.

Before the meeting with the Iranian delegation, the German foreign ministry told AFP that the talks were “not negotiations” while Iran said they were merely “consultations.”

Iran's ISNA news agency reported that the two Iranian diplomats and their counterparts from the E3 “discussed issues of mutual interest, including negotiations for lifting sanctions, the nuclear issue and the worrying situation in the region.”

It was the second round of such talks between Iran and the E3 in less than two months, following a discreet meeting in Geneva last November.

At that time, an Iranian official told Reuters that finalizing a roadmap with Europeans would “put the ball in the US court to revive or kill the nuclear deal.”

On Monday, Gharibabadi said in a post on X, “We discussed ideas involving certain details in the sanctions-lifting and nuclear fields that are needed for a deal.”

“Sides concurred that negotiations should be resumed and to reach a deal, all parties should create and maintain the appropriate atmosphere. We agreed to continue our dialogue,” he added.

Officials in Tehran fear that Trump will revive his maximum pressure strategy that sought to wreck Iran's economy to force the country to negotiate a deal on its nuclear program, ballistic missile program and regional activities.

In 2018, the US, led by then-President Trump, exited Iran's 2015 nuclear pact with six major powers and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran.

That prompted Tehran to violate the pact's nuclear limits by rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up output.

Indirect talks between US President Joe Biden’s administration and Tehran to try to revive the pact have failed.

Trump has vowed to return to the policy he pursued in his previous term.

Last December, a top Iranian diplomat warned Tehran would withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty after the E3 informed the UN Security Council their readiness to use all diplomatic tools to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, including using snapback.

The snapback mechanism - part of the 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - allows signatories to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran in cases of the “significant non-performance” of commitments.