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Jeju Air crash tanks shares, triggers boycott for holding company

Published: 30 Dec. 2024, 12:37 Updated: 30 Dec. 2024, 17:59

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

From left, Jeju Air CEO Kim E-bae and Aekyung Group Vice Chairman Choi Hyung-seok apologize to families of the victims who died on the Jeju Air Flight 2216 crash at Muan International Airport on Dec. 29. [YONHAP]

Shares of Jeju Air and its majority stakeholder, AK Holdings, tanked as markets opened on Monday morning following a deadly crash that killed 179 the previous day.

The airline's shares were trading at 7,040 won ($4.80) at 9:03 a.m., down 14.25 percent from the previous session, marking the lowest point for the airline this year.

AK Holdings, which owns 50.37 percent of the airline, dropped by 11.3 percent to trade at 9,730 won at the same time. This also marked a one year low for the company.

Online users rallied to call for a larger boycott across Aekyung Group’s wide portfolio of goods and services as they shared information on social media that the group’s subsidiary, Aekyung Industrial, was also the manufacturer of a humidifier sterilizer that had led to 98 reported casualties including 12 deaths.

Users shared pictures of the group’s affiliates and brands that include cleaning products and cosmetics as well as its department store business.

Aekyung Industrial was trading at 12,900 won at 9:05 a.m., down 7 percent, while Aekyung Chemical exchanged at 6,460 won, down 9 percent.

Aekyung Group said the group in its entirety would offer support for all necessary measures in the aftermath of the crash in its public apology issued Sunday.

"We will actively cooperate with authorities in the investigation and will listen to the voices of the victims' families to provide necessary support," the group said.

"Aekyung Industrial incurred many casualties through the humidifier disinfectant case and now through the Jeju Air incident it has solidified the image that the company does not value its customers' lives [...] we will remember and boycott," a user on X, formerly Twitter, wrote, while posting an image of Aekyung Group's brands. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 returning from Bangkok crash-landed at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla on Sunday. A total of 179 of the 181 passengers were killed.

While the exact cause of the crash has not been identified, with officials suggesting the possibility of a bird strike or bad weather playing a role, aviation experts have also floated a potential defect in the aircraft.

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]