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Last week, 30,000 people were stranded as flights to Jeju Airport were canceled one after another due to heavy snow and strong winds.

A response manual in preparation for such an emergency was already created six years ago, but it was confirmed that no action was taken when it was needed.



This is reporter Minji Kwon of JIBS.



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In 2016, the entire island of Jeju was buried in white snow due to the first record heavy snowfall in 32 years.



As the runway was closed for over 40 hours and 60,000 people were stranded, they had to settle for lodging in the airport waiting room.



In order not to repeat the same situation, Jeju Self-Governing Province and the Jeju Regional Aviation Administration at the time created a support manual for resident passengers following flight cancellations.



It contains information that an alert is issued in 4 stages from 'interested' to 'severe' depending on the number of canceled flights and staying guests, and step-by-step support measures are implemented.



However, last week, when a lot of flights were canceled due to heavy snow and strong winds, the manual made six years ago did not work.



According to the manual, an alert should be issued for the last 22nd and 23rd, when more than half of the flights were canceled.



An information window should be installed and transportation support, medical care, and accommodation information should be provided, but Jeju Self-Governing Province did not take any action.



[Ma Yoon-jin·Lee Ye-ji/Tourist (last 22nd): There is no accommodation, no rental car, nothing.

I don't know what to do right now.]



The cause is due to confusion in the emergency response system between Jeju Self-Governing Province and the Aviation Administration.



There was confusion in that the warning issuance level sent by the Aviation Administration to Jeju Self-Governing Province using text messages and social media was transmitted differently as alert and caution, and Jeju Self-Governing Province also did not take any confirmation action.



[Jeju Self-Governing Province official: There was a slight mistake as the warning level was issued from the caution level to the alert level in this strong wind situation.] Due to



a communication error between the Aviation Administration and Jeju Self-Governing Province, the manual became useless, and only the carefree residents suffered damage at the airport site.



(Video coverage: Oilyeong Oh, JIBS)