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.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was impeached on Friday as South Korea's acting president, is a career technocrat whose wide-ranging experience and reputation for rationality failed to shield him from growing political turmoil.