SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea will remove concrete embankments near airport runways in response to a recent air disaster, media reports said Thursday. The embankments contain antennas called localizers designed to guide aircraft during landings and have been blamed for making last month’s crash of a Jeju Air plane worse.

South Korea's transport ministry said on Wednesday that it would remove the concrete embankment installed at Muan International Airport following last month's Jeju Air crash, its deadliest domestic air disaster.

Seven airports will also have their runway safety areas adapted following a review of all South Korea's airports that was carried out after the crash - the deadliest in the country's history. The Jeju Air flight was bringing passengers home from Thailand after Christmas when it made an emergency landing at Muan airport and exploded after slamming into a concrete barrier at the end of the runway.

South Korea's economy barely grew in the fourth quarter of 2024, as the country's worst political crisis in decades hurts already weakened domestic demand and threatens to further sap growth in a year of rising external risks under a second Trump presidency.

South Korea’s economy continued to sputter last quarter, after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived declaration of martial law battered consumer confidence at a time when export growth is slowing.

South Korea's economic growth slowed in the last quarter of 2024, data from the central bank showed Thursday, as the country struggled with the fallout from impeached President Yoon Suk