The plane crash is the first major test for South Korea’s acting President, Choi Sang-mok, who had been appointed the interim leader only on Friday, as the country grapples with a political crisis at the highest levels.

Choi arrived at the site, about 306km from Seoul, around noon on Sunday and ordered government agencies to mobilise all equipment and personnel available for rescue efforts, according to his office.

Two impeachments in two weeks — President Yoon Suk Yeol and then Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, served as acting President — left South Korea without a strong elected leader in charge of the government and military at a time when the country is grappling with North Korea’s nuclear threats and economic challenges at home.

That was when Choi, the Deputy Prime Minister, was named acting President.

Choi had been a career bureaucrat, climbing the ranks at the finance ministry. He served as a deputy finance minister when former President Park Geun-hye was impeached and removed from office in 2017. He then left government until Yoon picked him as his presidential secretary for economic affairs in 2022 and later made him the finance minister.