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Arrest warrant issued for impeached South Korean president as political crisis deepens
A South Korean court approved arrest warrants on Tuesday to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol and search his office and residence amid a criminal investigation into his martial law decree earlier this month.
The move marks the first time a sitting president of the country has faced arrest and follows weeks of intense political turmoil in South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy and a key U.S. ally. The country is also dealing with the deadly Jeju Air plane crash that killed 179 people on Sunday.
The Seoul Western District Court issued warrants to detain Yoon and to search the presidential office and residence in central Seoul, according to a statement from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military authorities.
The agency says it’s been investigating whether Yoon’s Dec. 3 declaration amounted to rebellion, and he has been suspended from office.
Under South Korean law, the leader of a rebellion can face the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted.
It is unclear when authorities will proceed with the warrants, with the president’s lawyer labeling the warrants "invalid" and "illegal." His whereabouts are not publicly known, and he has been banned from leaving the country.
Yoon has presidential immunity from most criminal prosecutions, but the privilege does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason.
By law, a president in South Korea is allowed to declare martial law only during wartime or similar emergencies and has no right to suspend parliament’s operations even under martial law.
Yoon abruptly imposed martial law and pledged to eliminate "anti-state" forces after he struggled to move his agenda through the opposition-dominated parliament. The martial law, however, was only in effect for about six hours since the National Assembly voted to overrule the president's decision.
Lawmakers then submitted a motion to impeach the president over his martial law declaration, with the leader of the People Power Party, Han Dong-hun, criticizing the martial law declaration as "unconstitutional."
After declaring martial law, Yoon sent hundreds of troops and police officers to the parliament to try to impede its vote on the decree before they withdrew after the parliament rejected it. No major violence occurred but public protests swelled in both opposition and in support of Yoon.
The National Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14, during which hundreds of troops and police officers were deployed at the assembly.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who took over from Yoon as acting president, has also been impeached by parliament after he failed to fill three justice seats at the nine-member constitutional court. Yoon can only be removed from office if his impeachment is upheld by the court.
Experts say that adding more justices could increase the chances of Yoon’s impeachment as that requires support from at least six justices. The next hearing in Yoon's Constitutional Court case is scheduled for Friday.
Kim Yong-hyun, who resigned as Yoon's defense minister after playing a major role in the martial law decree, has been detained and was indicted on Friday on charges of insurrection and abuse of power.
New acting President Choi Sang-mok on Monday presided over a task force meeting investigating the Jeju Air disaster. The Boeing 737-800 plane landed without its front landing gear deployed, overshot the runway, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into a fireball.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Ukraine: How the war shifted in 2024
As the third year of war in Ukraine nears a close as the new year approaches and ahead of the Feb. 24, 2025, anniversary date, new battle lines have once again been established after Russia made advances in the east and Kyiv opened a new battlefront, this time in Russia.
The war that had already plagued Europe, the U.S. and, to an extent, the Middle East, costing a whopping $278 billion in aid for Ukraine, including nearly $87 billion from Washington, expanded to Asia in 2024 as geopolitical rivalries in the Indo-Pacific began playing out through proxy in Ukraine.
2024 began with a heated fight in Congress over whether the U.S. should supply more military aid to Ukraine, a fight that highlighted major divisions in the Republican Party and Kyiv's deep reliance on Washington's military support.
The monthslong debate, which finally ended in April, had major implications for Ukraine when it came to its ability to defend against Moscow's missiles and its ability to counter Russian offenses. In 2023, Russia was unable to make any major advances despite the sheer number of men the Kremlin has long been able to throw into its war machine.
But 2024 politics in the U.S. changed the reality of war for Ukraine.
The stalled supplies not only significantly increased Ukraine’s vulnerabilities in the east, particularly in Donetsk, it enhanced frustration from Kyiv, NATO allies and those who argued that defending Ukraine is in the U.S.’s security interest. It escalated attention around the Biden administration’s strike bans on U.S.-supplied long-range missiles, which the president eventually lifted in November.
As U.S. politics at home grew increasingly volatile ahead of the presidential election, uncertainty mounted over what another Trump White House could mean for Kyiv; a question that has already had other geopolitical consequences.
In late April, the House passed a $61 billion military aid package for Ukraine that pushed U.S. financial commitments to $183 billion since Russia first launched its invasion in 2022. The package was meant to prompt an immediate surge in the delivery of military equipment and supplies, which, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, had fallen to 10% of what it had been the year before.
The European Union in June officially began membership talks with Ukraine after determining Kyiv had met the necessary requirements to join an economic and political partnership by countering corruption, reining in political lobbying, increasing transparency around officials’ wealth and bolstering the rights of national minorities.
By the July NATO Summit in Washington, D.C., some members began ramping up pressure on the Biden administration, along with other allies like the U.K. and Germany, to lift any and all strike restrictions enforced on Ukraine, which prevented Kyiv from hitting military targets and weapons depots deep inside Russia, a move Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeatedly said was needed to better stop Russia’s missile and drone attacks.
ZELENSKYY LAMBASTES PUTIN OVER CHRISTMAS STRIKES: 'WHAT COULD BE MORE INHUMANE?'
Moscow in September looked to secure its defense budget for 2025, and the federal government submitted a plan to its State Duma that called for $183 billion to be allocated for national security and defense next year, which amounted to some 41% of its annual expenditures, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
That figure appeared to have been whittled down by the time it reached Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desk in early December as he signed off on a 13.5 trillion ruble plan ($124 million), and it accounts for 32.5% of Russia’s 2025 budget, according to the Associated Press.
In October, the G-7 finalized a $50 billion loan to Ukraine that would be paid using frozen Russian assets, and on Christmas Eve, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Kyiv had received its first $1 billion from the U.S.
The U.S. has agreed to send Kyiv $20 billion in frozen asset profits to be used for Ukraine’s military and reconstruction assistance through 2025.
President Biden has vowed to fast-track as much military assistance to Ukraine as he can during the final days in office.
Throughout the war, Russia has relied on a heavy missile and drone campaign to brutalize the entirety of Ukraine. But in 2024, Moscow escalated its aerial attacks targeting towns and cities, particularly in eastern Ukraine, ahead of its infantry advances, even if it meant the complete decimation of urban areas.
2024 saw more battlefield movement than 2023, though according to data provided by the Institute for the Study of War, this was largely seen in the second half of the year, a price for which Russian paid heavily.
November proved to be a particularly brutal month, with Russia seeing its highest battlefield losses ever with 45,720 casualties reported in November, which was up from nearly 42,000 in October, along with an estimated $3 billion worth of military equipment, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
Moscow also twice set the record for the greatest number of drone strikes it levied against Ukraine in a single campaign since the war began, first with 145 drones fired overnight on Nov. 9, followed by 188 strikes beginning the night of Nov. 25.
After more than a year of a relatively stagnant front line, Russia in May launched a new front in Kharkiv, which Ukraine had liberated in 2022, though the Kremlin’s renewed offensive largely failed.
By early August, Ukraine made international headlines when it launched a surprise ground incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. It was an apparent attempt to divert forces from eastern Ukraine to the Kremlin’s home turf and give it a bargaining chip when the time comes for peace negotiations.
The campaign was the largest attack on Russia since World War II, and by mid-October the Pentagon had confirmed that North Korea had deployed troops to Russia, with some 11,000 North Korean soldiers believed to be fighting Ukraine in Kursk, the first foreign nation to send in troops since the war began.
Though North Korea is not the only nation to aid Russia in its invasion, Iran has for years been sending Shahed drones. In September, the U.S. accused Iran of supplying Russia with short-range ballistic missiles.
Ukraine is estimated to have lost 40% of the land it initially seized in Russia, according to reports last month. But North Korea is also reported to have endured heavy losses, with Zelenskyy claiming this week that 3,000 North Korean troops had been killed in the fighting while others face extreme logistical shortages, including access to clean water, the Associated Press reported.
China has also been accused of aiding Russia by covertly sending it military support in the form of microelectronics and semiconductors, among other items.
North Korea’s direct involvement in Russia’s war has further highlighted the divisions in the Indo-Pacific that have arisen in recent years, not only in the face of Chinese aggression, but Pyongyang’s, which is a dynamic that has become caught up in the largest war Europe has seen since World War II as Japan and South Korea increasingly back Western allies and view the Russia-North Korea alliance as a threat.
North Korea’s deployment of troops to Russia reportedly prompted South Korea to consider escalating its non-lethal aid by mulling over a supply of missiles. Japan on Christmas Day sent Ukraine $3 billion in frozen Russian assets, adding to the $12 billion Tokyo has provided to Kyiv. In addition, Japan also pledged to support Ukraine’s energy sector, which Russia routinely targets.
Russia once again solidified its primary winter strategy by attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Christmas Day by firing 184 drones and missiles across the country, according to Ukraine’s air force. The attacks sparked mass blackouts amid freezing temperatures in multiple regions, including Kharkiv in the north, the central Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava areas, as well as Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine.
Zelenskyy condemned the attacks as "inhumane."
Former President Trump said on the campaign trail that he would end the war before even entering office. Since winning the election, the president-elect’s confidence in his ability to do that appears to have shifted.
Speaking at his first press conference this month since securing a second term, he said, "We’re trying to get the war stopped, that horrible, horrible war that is going on in Ukraine with Russia. We’ve got a little progress. It is a tough one, it is a nasty one."
Trump has said he will work to secure a peace deal between Putin and Zelenskyy, which the Ukrainian president this month suggested he would be open to, though there are major stipulations on which Putin is unlikely to agree, such as a future for Kyiv in the NATO alliance.
Additionally, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed Trump’s calls for a ceasefire and said a "ceasefire is a road to nowhere," suggesting Trump could face a tough diplomatic future.
Court issues arrest warrant for South Korea's President Yoon
A South Korean court on Tuesday approved an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has been impeached and suspended from power over his decision to impose martial law on Dec. 3, investigating authorities said.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials confirmed the Seoul Western District Court approved the warrant.
This is the first ever arrest warrant issued for an incumbent president in South Korea, according to local media.
On Monday, South Korean investigators sought an arrest warrant for Yoon over this month's short-lived imposition of martial law.
Yoon is facing a criminal investigation into possible insurrection charges.
The court declined to comment.
Russian foreign minister blasts Ukraine peace deal reportedly floated by Trump's team: 'Not happy'
Russia's foreign minister has rejected a reported peace deal involving Ukraine and NATO, claiming that the proposals have been made by President-elect Trump's advisors.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the comments during an interview with TASS, a state-run Russian news agency, on Monday. During the interview, Lavrov claimed that the U.S. plans "to suspend hostilities along the line of contact and transfer responsibility for confrontation with Russia to the Europeans."
"We are not happy, of course, with the proposals made by members of the Trump team to postpone Ukraine’s admission to NATO for 20 years and to station British and European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine," the foreign minister said, though that deal has not been announced by any American officials.
Lavrov said that the proposal came through "leaks" and Trump's recent interview with TIME Magazine, but Trump's interview did not contain any references to NATO. The foreign minister also claimed that NATO "has been expanding its reach for many years, which became one of the primary causes of the Ukraine crisis."
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"Those who accuse Russia of various doings should be advised to look in the mirror instead," the foreign minister later said during the interview. "NATO military and mercenaries openly participate in the planning of combat operations and fighting on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine."
"NATO is complicit in the invasion of the Kursk Region and long-range missile strikes inside Russia," Lavrov continued. "President Vladimir Putin made this very clear in his recent public statements."
During his TIME Person of the Year interview, Trump said that it was "an advantage to both sides," to end the Russo-Ukrainian war, and claimed that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if he were president in 2022.
"I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that?" Trump said at the time. "We're just escalating this war and making it worse…[but] I want to reach an agreement, and the only way you're going to reach an agreement is not to abandon."
Lavrov's recent interview came over a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed willingness to compromise with Trump, though he insisted that Russia is in a stronger position than it was in 2022.
"Soon, those Ukrainians who want to fight will run out. In my opinion, soon there will be no one left who wants to fight," Putin was quoted as saying. "We are ready, but the other side needs to be ready for both negotiations and compromises."
"We have always said that we are ready for negotiations and compromises."
Fox News Digital reached out to Trump's team for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
Reuters contributed to this report.
National Guard soldier dies days after Christmas in 'non-combat' related incident in Iraq
An Indiana Army National Guard soldier died in a "non-combat related incident" in Iraq just days after Christmas, the National Guard confirmed to Fox News.
The National Guard said Capt. Eric Richard Hart, 34, of Indianapolis, Indiana, died on December 28 while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve in the Middle East.
The National Guard did not reveal what led to Hart's death, only saying the incident is under investigation.
Hart was assigned to Headquarters & Headquarters Battalion, 38th Infantry Division, Indiana National Guard, according to the National Guard.
VOTERS REACT AFTER BIDEN FALSELY CLAIMED THAT NO TROOPS HAD DIED UNDER HIS WATCH
Hart served with the Indiana National Guard for 11 years, earning the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, among many others.
He commissioned as second lieutenant in 2015 from the Officer Candidate School at Camp Atterbury.
SOLDIER KILLED, ANOTHER SERIOUSLY INJURED IN VEHICLE ACCIDENT AT POLAND ARMY CAMP
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Indiana National Guard called Hart an "integral part of our team," writing "he will be missed."
"The Indiana National Guard extends our heartfelt and sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Capt. Eric Hart who died in a noncombat incident while overseas serving with the 38th Infantry Division in support of Operation Inherent Resolve," the statement read. "Our thoughts are with them and the soldiers who worked and served alongside Capt. Hart."
US SOLDIER DEAD AFTER NONCOMBATANT INCIDENT IN KUWAIT
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Defense for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
The U.S. announced plans to shrink the U.S. "footprint" in Iraq and end the current mission of coalition forces — including the Kurds — to fight ISIS, but declined to say how many of the 2,500 troops currently stationed there would remain.
The current mission is now set to end by September 2025, with a plan to keep the number of forces on the Iraqi side to back up the 900 U.S. troops in Syria until at least 2026.
Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
Putin offers to pay off debts as recruitment tool in war against Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin seemingly took a page out of President Biden’s book and is offering to write off debts for new recruits enlisting in the country’s military for one year.
In November, Putin signed a law allowing anyone who joined the Russian military after Dec. 1, 2024, to have debs of up to 10 million rubles, or about $96,000, written off.
The Associated Press reported that the law applies to debts in which a court order for collection was issued, and enforcement proceedings had commenced before Dec. 1, 2024. The legislation also applies to spouses of new recruits.
The move appears to be similar to one from Biden’s own playbook, though the latter does not connect loan handouts to military recruitment.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced $4.28 billion in student loan handouts as Biden and Vice President Harris prepare to vacate the White House.
The massive handout will give 54,900 public workers loan forgiveness but also brings the total loan forgiveness approved by Biden to nearly $180 billion for nearly 5 million borrowers.
The Biden-Harris administration touted the program for creating an "incentive" for public servants to "pursue and remain" in their careers by forgiving borrowers' remaining balance after they made the 120 qualifying monthly payments.
BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN ROLLS OUT ANOTHER $4.28 BILLION IN STUDENT LOAN HANDOUTS
For Russia, though, the measure to write off debts is just another way Putin plans to build up Russian forces as he continues his war against Ukraine.
The AP reported on Sunday that western leaders say North Korea has sent some 10,000 troops to help Russia’s military campaign.
Russia also reportedly recruited hundreds of Yemeni men to fight in its war in Ukraine by luring them to Russia under false pretenses in coordination with the Houthi terrorist network, according to a report from the Financial times.
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The Yemeni recruits who were transferred to Russia under a "shadowy trafficking operation" were originally told they would receive high-paying jobs and Russian citizenship.
However, after arriving with the help of a Houthi-linked company, many have apparently been coerced into the Russian military, forced to sign fighting contracts at gunpoint and sent to the front lines in Ukraine.
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.
Israeli spy network uncovers Hezbollah commander's plans to marry his 4 mistresses
Israeli spy agencies have uncovered information about Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr's plans to marry his four mistresses over the phone, according to a report.
The New York Times reported this week about its investigation into how deeply Israeli spies had penetrated Hezbollah leading up to the assassination of its top leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as other commanders in the Iran-backed terror group.
Israel announced in July that its forces had killed Shukur during what was, at the time, a rare and provacative strike in Beirut.
It came in response to Israel assessing that the Hezbollah commander was behind the rocket attack days earlier in the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 people, including schoolchildren.
The United States had also long blamed Shukur for staging and planning a bombing of a Marine Corps barrack in Lebanon in 1983 that killed 241 American service members.
ISRAELI OFFICIAL REVEALS HOW 'TO TRULY DEFEAT HEZBOLLAH'
Leading up to the strike that killed Shukr, Israeli intelligence agencies had identified four of his mistresses, according to the Times.
Shukr – apparently uneasy about his affairs – earlier this year reached out for help from Hashem Safieddine, one of Hezbollah’s highest religious clerics, to have the four women wedded, two Israeli officials and a European official told the Times.
Safieddine, in turn, reportedly arranged four marriage ceremonies conducted over the phone.
The intimate and sometimes mundane details of Shukr's personal affairs point to how closely Israeli intelligence agencies managed to track the moves of Hezbollah's leadership.
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Beyond tracking meetings with mistresses, the Times report revealed how Israeli spy agencies recruited human sources within the terror group to plant listening devices in bunkers and expose hideout locations.
After a pager attack that had been orchestrated by Israel's Mossad for years, and increased strikes that killed Hezbollah leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while en route to New York City to speak before the United Nations General Assembly, finally ordered the killing of Nasrallah, according to the Times. Nasrallah, who headed Hezbollah for the past three decades, was killed in an Israeli air raid that leveled six apartment buildings in Beirut on Sept. 27.
The Times reported that Nasrallah had brushed off warnings from his commanders to change locations from his 40-foot underground Hezbollah bunker before the attack.
Unaware of the methodical Israeli intelligence providing clear visibility of his every move, he apparently believed that the Jewish state had no interest in an all-out war with Hezbollah.
Israeli F-15 jets soon after destroyed the bunker by dropping thousands of pounds of explosives, and Nasrallah, found locked in an embrace with an Iranian general who was based in Lebanon, reportedly died of suffocation underground.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Uncovering the atrocities of the Assad regime at its 'death factory' on the hill
In the shadow of Syria’s brutal civil war, one institution stands as a chilling symbol of the regime’s systemic violence: Sednaya prison. Referred to as the "Death Factory" or the "Human Slaughterhouse," Sednaya became a site of unimaginable suffering.
Around 100,000 individuals, according to reports, have disappeared into Assad'a prisons, where people, including thousands of women and children, were detained, tortured and killed.
"Rights groups have documented that at least 10% of those detained lost their lives in these prisons, though some reports suggest the figure could be as high as 20%," said Joseph Braude, founder of the Center for Peace Communications, an NGO dedicated to resolving identity-based conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, whose group gained rare access to Sednaya. "The number continues to rise as families speak out about the whereabouts of their missing loved ones, many of whom remain unaccounted for."
SYRIA'S LIBERATED POLITICAL PRISONS REVEAL GRIM REALITY OF BASHAR ASSAD'S REGIME OF TORTURE
Sednaya was not just a prison, it was a tool to crush any form of resistance or humanity. "The prison was located on a hill outside Damascus," Ahed Al Hendi, a former political prisoner and Syrian affairs analyst, told Fox News Digital. "We would see it while going to a nearby tourist area, but even if you were just driving by, you were afraid to talk about it. If you said, ‘Sednaya,’ you would end up there."
Al Hendi continued: "I’ve heard from my friends describing the sights going into Sednaya this week. They found bags of bones, there was still fresh blood on the floor, the smell of death, and the torture machines, which were the most horrible things they’ve seen. One friend told me he saw a mother hugging the torture machine, believing her son had died there. It was a tragic image, seeing her holding the machine that killed her son, thinking she could still smell him in the machine. The tools were unimaginable, like a massive metal press designed to liquefy bodies and make them unrecognizable."
As Assad regime’s atrocities at Sednaya become clearer, and after days of looking for survivors and realizing that some people may never be found, attention has shifted to mass graves. Braude’s team on the ground in Syria is currently collecting evidence. "We're documenting, we're interviewing people who are there, trying to use equipment to discover any possibility of secret underground prisons." He said the team had recently worked at a mass grave site "where we estimate 100,000 people were buried."
"Some of the people in these mass graves came from Sednaya and died under torture," Al Hendi said. "Many show gunshot wounds, and their bodies were moved to a large area where the regime placed old military equipment to create the illusion of a restricted military zone. Locals reported seeing refrigerated trucks entering the area with security forces blocking the roads. The trucks stayed for hours before leaving. People became accustomed to the smell of death."
Sednaya prison became a symbol of the regime’s relentless repression. "It wasn’t just political opponents," said Al Hendi, who was arrested for establishing a secular anti-regime student organization. "Children and women were also taken as hostages to pressure their fathers or husbands. We found children born there as a result of rape by prison guards. Entire families were destroyed by the regime."
The conditions in Sednaya were inhumane. Prisoners were often starved, beaten and tortured with electricity. "When they execute someone, they don’t feed them for three days before the execution. The guards say, ‘Why feed him? We will take the food for ourselves.’ Imagine someone about to die, and they are starved first, denied even the dignity of a last meal," Al Hendi said.
The atrocities committed at Sednaya were part of a broader campaign by the Assad regime to exterminate its opposition in the most horrific ways. Both Braude and Al Hendi emphasize the need for accountability. "What we need now is truth and reconciliation," Braude says. "Only by acknowledging the suffering and recognizing the full scope of the atrocities can Syria begin to heal. If we don’t do that, we risk perpetuating cycles of vengeance."
After the fall of the Assad regime earlier this month, Sednaya was liberated, and thousands of prisoners were freed. "The prisoners who emerged from Sednaya were traumatized, many of them unable to even remember their own names," Al Hendi said. "They had been detained for so long they didn’t even know that Assad’s father had died. They thought Assad was still in power."
Robert Petit, the Head of the International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism for Syria (IIIM), visited Damascus and observed the extensive documentation of the regime’s atrocities, noting in a press release the "chilling efficiency" with which these crimes had been systematized. He emphasized the urgent need to preserve this evidence, warning, "Time is running out. There is a small window of opportunity to secure these sites and the material they hold. Each day we fail to do so, we risk losing the chance for comprehensive accountability."
The investigations into Sednaya and the mass graves have painted a horrific picture of the regime’s violence, but they also serve as a call for justice, Braude said. "The consequences of the Assad regime’s atrocities are profound. The key question now is how the population can move forward and rebuild, rather than descending into further civil conflict. There is a fear of cycles of vengeance, but true reconciliation can only come through truth and acknowledgment."
He said that "99% of Syria’s prison guards belong to the Alawi community." "We’re talking about half the young population of the Alawi sect, as most of them work in the army or secret police. The rebels have proposed a solution: Russia will surrender Assad and 100 top officials responsible for the atrocities. In return, rebels would offer amnesty to low-level perpetrators who were following orders. If Russia facilitates this, it could help prevent further violence and bring stability to Syria."
South Korea deadly plane crash: US sends investigators to country still reeling from disaster that killed 179
The death toll for what amounted to be South Korea's most fatal plane crash in decades stands at 179 people on Monday, a day after the disaster gripped the nation already in intense political turmoil.
The United States is now sending investigators to help determine what caused the Jeju Air plane to crash-land at Muan airport and slam into a concrete barrier on Sunday.
Meanwhile, South Korean officials are combing through more than 600 body parts, and the stench of blood remains in the air at the crash site, the Daily Mail reported.
So far, 141 bodies have been identified. The youngest passenger was a 3-year-old and the oldest was 78, the BBC reported.
The plane had 181 people on board, and just two lone survivors – identified as 32-year-old Lee and 25-year-old Kwon, both flight attendants – were pulled from the tail end of the fiery aircraft alive.
Doctors at Mokpo Korean Hospital reportedly described how Lee, who suffered a fractured left shoulder and head injuries but remained conscious, repeatedly asked them "What happened?" and "Why am I here?"
"It seems she was in a near-panic state, possibly worried about the safety of the plane and passengers," one hospital official told the Korean Times.
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Kwon, who is being treated at Mokpo Central Hospital, suffered a scalp laceration, a fractured ankle and abdominal pain, according to the report. She also had no immediate recollection of the crash.
"While her life is not in danger, the trauma and injuries are significant," another hospital said, according to the Korean Times.
South Korea's Transport Ministry said Monday it plans to conduct safety inspections of all of the 101 Boeing 737-800 jetliners operated by the country’s airlines as well as a broader review into safety standards at Jeju Air, which operates 39 of those planes. Senior ministry official Joo Jong-wan said representatives from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Boeing were expected to arrive in South Korea on Monday to participate in the investigation.
"The NTSB is leading a team of U.S. investigators (NTSB, Boeing and FAA) to assist the Republic of Korea’s Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB) with their investigation of the Dec. 29 Jeju Air accident at Muan International Airport in Muan, Republic of Korea," the NTSB Newsroom account wrote on X.
Ministry officials also said they will look into whether the Muan airport’s localizer — a concrete fence housing a set of antennas designed to guide aircraft safely during landings — should have been made with lighter materials that would break more easily upon impact.
Joo said the ministry has determined that similar concrete structures are in other domestic airports, including in Jeju Island and the southern cities of Yeosu and Pohang, as well as airports in the United States, Spain and South Africa.
Sunday's crash, the country’s worst aviation disaster in decades, triggered an outpouring of national sympathy. Many people worry how effectively the South Korean government will handle the disaster as it grapples with a leadership vacuum following the recent successive impeachments of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s top two officials, amid political tumult caused by Yoon’s brief imposition of martial law earlier this month.
New acting President Choi Sang-mok on Monday presided over a task force meeting on the crash and instructed authorities to conduct an emergency review of the country’s aircraft operation systems.
"The essence of a responsible response would be renovating the aviation safety systems on the whole to prevent recurrences of similar incidents and building a safer Republic of South Korea," Choi, who is also deputy prime minister and finance minister, said, according to the Associated Press.
The Boeing 737-800 plane operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air aborted its first landing attempt for reasons that aren’t immediately clear. Then, during its second landing attempt, it received a bird strike warning from the ground control center before its pilot issued a distress signal. The plane landed without its front landing gear deployed, overshot the runway, slammed into a concrete fence and burst into a fireball.
The Transport Ministry said authorities have identified 146 bodies and are collecting DNA and fingerprint samples from the other 33, according to the AP.
Park Han Shin, a representative of the bereaved families, said they were told that the bodies were so badly damaged that officials need time before returning them to their families.
"I demand that the government mobilize more personnel to return our brothers and family members as intact as possible more swiftly," he said, choking down tears.
Earlier Monday, another Boeing 737-800 plane operated by Jeju Air returned to Seoul’s Gimpo International Airport shortly after takeoff when the pilot detected a landing gear issue. Song Kyung-hoon, a Jeju Air executive, said the issue was resolved through communication with a land-based equipment center, but the pilot decided to return to Gimpo as a precautionary measure.
Joo said officials were reviewing whether there might have been communication problems between air traffic controllers and the pilot.
"Our current understanding is that, at some point during the go-around process, communication became somewhat ineffective or was interrupted, ahead of the landing and impact," he said.
Ministry officials said Monday the plane’s flight data and cockpit audio recorders were moved to a research center at Gimpo airport ahead of their analysis. Ministry officials earlier said it would take months to complete the investigation of the crash.
The Muan crash is South Korea's deadliest aviation disaster since 1997, when a Korean Airlines plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people on board.
The crash left many South Koreans shocked and ashamed, with the government announcing a seven-day national mourning period through Jan. 4. Some questioned whether the crash involved safety or regulatory issues, such as a 2022 Halloween crush in Seoul that killed 160 people and a 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people.
Video of the crash indicated that the pilots did not deploy flaps or slats to slow the aircraft, suggesting a possible hydraulic failure, and did not manually lower the landing gear, suggesting they did not have time, John Cox, a retired airline pilot and CEO of Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida, told the AP.
Despite that, the jetliner was under control and traveling in a straight line, and damage and injuries likely would have been minimized if not for the barrier being so close to the runway, Cox said. Other observers said the videos showed the plane was suffering from suspected engine trouble, but the landing gear malfunction was likely a direct reason for the crash. They told the AP there wouldn't likely be a link between the landing gear problem and the suspected engine issue.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu completes prostate surgery after UTI diagnosis
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underwent surgery that was completed on Sunday, Fox News has learned.
The Israeli leader had his prostate removed after suffering a urinary tract infection, which had reportedly "stemmed from a benign enlargement of his prostate," Netanyahu's office said.
His current condition is unknown.
NEW TREATMENT OPTION AVAILABLE FOR PROSTATE CONDITION
The Israeli leader has undergone several health procedures over the past two years.
In March, Netanyahu underwent hernia surgery under full anesthesia, and Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin temporarily assumed his role during the process.
Months before the Oct. 7 attacks, Netanyahu suffered dehydration and was admitted to a hospital in July 2023.
The Israeli leader said that he became dehydrated after visiting the Sea of Galilee without water or sun protection during a heatwave.
A week after being admitted for dehydration, Netanyahu's doctors implanted a pacemaker to regulate his heart rate and rhythm.
"A week ago, I was fitted with a monitoring device. That device beeped this evening and said I must have a pacemaker and that I must do this already tonight," Netanyahu, then 73, said at the time.
"I feel great, but I need to listen to my doctors."
Netanyahu's most recent operation came as the 75-year-old politician continues to testify in a corruption case against him in Israel.
He took the stand earlier in December and is expected to continue testifying in the new year.
Netanyahu is also currently leading the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on multiple fronts across the Middle East, continuing to target Iranian terrorists and their proxies.
The IDF recently launched multiple strikes against Houthi rebels, hitting Sanaa International Airport in Yemen and Houthi infrastructure in the ports of Al-Hudaydah, Salif and Ras Kanatib.
Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
Israeli official reveals how 'to truly defeat Hezbollah'
An Israeli official said on Sunday that the return of normal civilian life in northern Israel along the border with Lebanon is the way "to truly defeat Hezbollah."
"In order to truly defeat Hezbollah—because militarily, we have already won, and our victory is very clear—to truly win, to achieve long-term victory, is to have many residents living here (northern Israel), vast tourism, to reopen the restaurants and cafes that used to be here, to have people coming to cycle, agriculture flourishing—everything thriving," Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi, said while visiting southern Lebanon.
"This is a long-term victory. And the state must step in and strongly reinforce this responsibility," he added.
Fox News confirmed that Halevi had conducted a situational assessment on Sunday in southern Lebanon with the Commanding Officer of the Northern Command, MG Ori Gordin; the Commanding Officer of the 146th Division, BG Yiftach Norkin; the Commanding Officer of the 300th Brigade, COL Omri Rosenkrantz; and other senior officers.
IDF FINDS HEZBOLLAH WEAPONS CACHE IN UNDERGROUND TUNNEL: VIDEO
A cease-fire deal between Israel and the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon has held for a month as of Friday.
Since the 60-day agreement went into effect on Nov. 27, Israeli forces have been conducting operations in southern Lebanon that they say are meant to dismantle terror tunnels and Hezbollah's command center.
According to the New York Times, Israeli forces have continued strikes as the cease-fire deal has held, mostly in southern Lebanon but now, as of days ago, also in the eastern Bekaa region.
Israeli officials say Hezbollah is trying to test Israel by smuggling weapons across the Lebanese-Syrian border crossings.
Thousands of Israelis have evacuated villages along the Lebanon border after Hezbollah, in allegiance with Hamas terrorists in Gaza, began launching rockets at Israel following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
Israeli forces in response have pummeled Lebanon, severely weakening Hezbollah, forcing the group to make concessions.
South Korea plane's final moments captured on video before hitting concrete barrier, triggering explosion
The moment a Jeju Air flight skidded off a runway before crashing into a concrete barrier and bursting into flames at an airport in South Korea was caught on camera.
The crash on Sunday killed 179 people on board. Only two survived, a man and a woman who were both crew members.
Footage aired by South Korean television channels showed the plane skidding — and apparently without its landing gear deployed. The jet overran the runway and hit a barrier, triggering a fiery explosion. Footage showed thick plumes of smoke billowing from the plane, which was engulfed in flames.
The plane involved was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 passenger jet. It was arriving from Bangkok when the crash happened at 9:03 a.m. local time near the town of Muan, which is about 180 miles south of Seoul.
PLANE VEERS OFF AIRPORT RUNWAY IN SOUTH KOREA AND CRASHES, KILLING 179: REPORTS
Kyle Bailey, former a FAA safety team representative in the U.S., told Fox News that it appeared to him that the aircraft was traveling too fast as it skidded on the runway before striking what he believed was a structure that housed instrument landing equipment.
"I think that’s pretty much what spelled disaster for that airplane," he said.
Flight data and cockpit voice recorders of the plane's black box have been retrieved by workers. They will be examined by government experts investigating the cause of the crash and fire, Senior Transport Ministry official Joo Jong-wan said.
While it will likely take months to determine the cause of the crash, Lee Jeong-hyeon, chief of the Muan fire station, said workers were looking into various possibilities, including whether the aircraft was struck by birds.
Transport Ministry officials said the airport control tower had issued a bird strike warning to the plane shortly before it intended to land and had given its pilot permission to land in a different area.
The plane was destroyed with the tail assembly being the only recognizable part among the wreckage, the fire chief told a televised briefing.
Fox News' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Chris Pandolfo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Azerbaijan president accuses Russia of 'absurd' plane crash cover-up, says flight was 'shot down'
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Russia of executing an "absurd" cover-up after its air defenses allegedly "shot down" a passenger plane last week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the "tragic incident" this weekend, but the Kremlin has not formally stated that Russian air defenses shot down the plane. At least 38 people were killed in the incident.
"Our plane was shot down by accident," Aliyev told state television on Sunday. "Unfortunately, in the first three days we heard only absurd versions from Russia."
"We witnessed clear attempts to cover up the matter," he added.
AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES BLAMES DEADLY PLANE CRASH ON 'EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE' AS RUSSIA SPECULATION GROWS
A Kremlin statement said the incident occurred after Russian air defenses engaged with Ukrainian attack drones, but did not outright state that Russian forces had shot down the plane.
IT'S ‘VERY UNCLEAR’ WHAT HAPPENED IN AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES CRASH, EX-STATE DEPT OFFICIAL SAYS
Aliyev is a close ally with Putin's regime, and the pair held a phone call regarding the incident on Sunday. Neither party has released details of their conversation.
Crew members and survivors of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190-passenger jet say they heard at least one loud bang before the aircraft crashed on Christmas day.
AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES BLAMES DEADLY PLANE CRASH ON 'EXTERNAL INTERFERENCE' AS RUSSIA SPECULATION GROWS
Subhonkul Rakhimov, one of the passengers aboard Flight J2-8243, told Reuters from the hospital that he had begun to recite prayers and prepare for the end after hearing a bang.
"After the bang... I thought the plane was going to fall apart," Rakhimov told the outlet. "It was obvious that the plane had been damaged in some way. It was as if it was drunk - not the same plane anymore."
Surviving passenger Vafa Shabanova said that there were "two explosions in the sky, and an hour and a half later the plane crashed to the ground."
Reuters contributed to this report.
China directs largest military build-up since 1930s Nazi Germany, expert warns, citing Pentagon report
China is conducting the largest military build-up seen since that of Nazi Germany during the 1930s, one expert warns, after a new Department of Defense report detailed Beijing's operations including bolstering weapons and psychological warfare.
In a piece for The Federalist, Chuck DeVore, chief national initiatives officer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, referenced the Pentagon's annual report to Congress and warned that the United States has spent $5.4 trillion on its war on terror and futile nation building while the Chinese threat has grown. He urged that Congress get on board with the incoming Trump administration to reallocate resources within the Pentagon to better prioritize naval strength, nuclear deterrence, missile defense, and logistics.
"China is engaging in an unprecedented military build-up that the world frankly hasn't seen since Adolf Hitler in the 1930s," DeVore, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, told "Fox & Friends Weekend."
"Now the big difference there, is that he really focused on land power, which frankly is pretty easy to build up pretty quickly," he added. "Navies are much more difficult to build up. And we are way behind. And not only do we need to catch up, but we also need to modernize our nuclear weapons, and we need to put a lot of effort into missile defense."
DeVore further detailed the Department of Defense's findings in its report, which summarized "military and security developments involving the People’s Republic of China" in 2024.
"They're massively building up their nuclear arsenal. We expect it to expand to at least 1,000 warheads by 2030, only five years from now. Probably going to be bigger than that," DeVore said Sunday. "The Chinese Navy, not by tonnage, but by numbers is now larger than the U.S. Navy. China has something like 250 times the ship building capacity that America does."
The report cites how China has bolstered its People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) arsenal to include 50 new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which can strike the continental U.S., raising its total to 400. As far as the report discloses, the DoD says China has added 300 medium-range ballistic missiles and 100 long-range cruise missiles. Their arsenal also now includes more than 600 operational nuclear warheads and is expected to have more than 1,000 by 2030.
The DoD says the People's Republic of China (PRC) has the world’s leading arsenal of hypersonic missiles, including the DF-27, which as DeVore notes, "are capable of evading U.S. missile defenses and targeting Guam, Hawaii, and Alaska."
China already has the largest navy in the world but is expected to expand from its current 370 ships and submarines to 435 by 2030.
The 182-page DoD report also details how the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the military arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), seeks "to expand the reach of its influence operations around the world and seize information dominance on the battlefield," by researching and developing what it "believes to be the next evolution of psychological warfare," known as cognitive domain operations (CDO).
WHITE HOUSE SAYS 9TH TELECOMS COMPANY HAS BEEN HACKED AS PART OF CHINESE ESPIONAGE CAMPAIGN
The DoD assesses that CDO "blends previous PRC concepts, such as public opinion guidance and psychological warfare, with modern internet technologies and communication platforms and is designed to achieve strategic national security goals by affecting a target’s cognition to change the target’s behavior and decision-making." CDO incorporates emerging technologies, such as AI, big data, brain science, and neuroscience, the report says.
"The goal of CDO is to achieve what the PLA refers to as ‘mind dominance,’ which the PLA defines as the use of information to influence public opinion to affect change in a nation’s social system, likely to create an environment favorable to the PRC and reduce civilian and military resistance to PLA actions," the report says. "The PLA probably intends to use CDO as an asymmetric capability to deter U.S. or third-party entry into a potential conflict, or as an offensive capability to shape perceptions or polarize a society."
The report says the PLA seeks to bring psychological pressure and fear on an opponent, assessing that using CDO to subdue the enemy without fighting "is the highest realm of warfare."
North Korea vows 'toughest' US policy in vague announcement
North Korea's regime vowed to take up its "toughest" policies against the U.S. at a meeting of the country's ruling party last week.
The Dec. 23-27 meeting featured top members of the Workers' Party of Korea, including dictator Kim Jong Un. State media outlet KCNA said leaders condemned ongoing partnerships between the U.S., Japan and South Korea, as a "nuclear military bloc."
"This reality clearly shows to which direction we should advance and what we should do and how," the party said in a statement.
The meeting comes as North Korea faces mounting tension with Western governments after sending troops to assist in Russia's invasion of Ukraine this fall.
SOUTH KOREA IMPOSES A TRAVEL BAN ON PRESIDENT YOON OVER MARTIAL LAW DECLARATION
Kim's regime also condemned South Korea as an "anti-communist outpost" following this week's meetings, a reference to President Yoon Suk-Yeoul's attempt to impose martial law earlier this month.
SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT APOLOGIZES FOR DECLARING MARTIAL LAW AHEAD OF IMPEACHMENT VOTE
North Korea had remained silent for roughly a week after Yoon's attempt, which was foiled by the nation's legislature. Kim Jong Un's regime finally commented on the issue through its state-run news outlet on Dec. 11.
"The shocking incident of the puppet Yoon Suk Yeol regime, which was faced with a serious governance crisis and an impeachment crisis, suddenly declared a martial law decree and unhesitatingly wielded the guns and knives of its fascist dictatorship," KCNA said in a report.
"The international community is sternly watching, with assessments that the martial law incident exposed vulnerabilities in South Korean society ... and that Yoon Suk Yeol’s political life could face an early end," KCNA added.
South Korea's legislature impeached Yoon soon after his power grab, and a national court is deliberating over whether to uphold his removal.
Netanyahu to undergo major surgery after UTI diagnosis
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will undergo prostate removal surgery on Sunday after being diagnosed with a urinary tract infection last week.
Netanyahu's office announced the surgery on Saturday, describing the infection as "stemming from a benign enlargement of his prostate." The surgery comes as Netanyahu, 75, leads Israel in multiple conflicts across the Middle East against Iran and its proxy terrorist groups.
Just this week, the IDF launched a series of airstrikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, targeting Sana’a International Airport, among other locations.
"The Houthi terrorist regime has repeatedly attacked the State of Israel and its citizens, including in UAV and surface-to-surface missile attacks on Israeli territory," the IDF said in a statement Thursday.
PROJECTILE FROM YEMEN STRIKES NEAR TEL AVIV, INJURING MORE THAN A DOZEN: OFFICIALS
"The targets that were struck by the IDF include military infrastructure used by the Houthi terrorist regime for its military activities in both the Sana’a International Airport and the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations. In addition, the IDF struck military infrastructure in the Al-Hudaydah, Salif, and Ras Kanatib ports on the western coast."
US NAVY SHIPS REPEL ATTACK FROM HOUTHIS IN GULF OF ADEN
Houthi rebels, who control most of northern Yemen, have fired upon Israel for more than a year to support Hamas terrorists at war with the Jewish State. The Houthis have attempted to enforce an embargo on Israel by launching missiles and drones at cargo vessels crossing the Red Sea – a major shipping lane for international trade.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu is also testifying in a corruption case against him within Israel. The prime minister began testifying earlier in December, and he is expected to remain on the stand for several weeks.
The corruption trial kicked off in 2020, with prosecutors accusing Netanyahu of exchanging regulatory favors for positive press coverage in under-the-table dealings with media moguls.
So far, some 140 witnesses have taken the stand in the trial, though that falls short of the 300 witnesses initially expected. Those witnesses include high-profile figures, such as a former prime minister, former security chiefs and media personalities.
Fox News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
Eyewitnesses to South Korea plane crash recount sparks in engine, bird strike before collision
Witnesses to a deadly plane crash in South Korea on Sunday said they observed flames in the engine of the aircraft and heard explosions, according to a report.
A Jeju Air flight skidded off a runway at Muan International Airport in the town of Muan, roughly 190 miles south of Seoul, and collided with a concrete fence, killing at least 176 people, the Associated Press reported, citing the country's National Fire Agency (NFA).
Authorities are investigating a potential landing gear failure stemming from a bird strike that may have caused the crash, according to Yonhap News Agency.
Videos show the plane attempting to land without its landing gear deployed.
PLANE VEERS OFF AIRPORT RUNWAY IN SOUTH KOREA AND CRASHES, KILLING AT LEAST 176: REPORTS
The flight was carrying 181 people when the collision happened at about 9:03 a.m. local time. Emergency workers pulled two crew members to safety who health officials say are conscious and not in life-threatening condition, while three people remained missing.
South Korea's Transport Ministry said the plane was a 15-year-old Boeing 737-800 jet that was returning from Bangkok in Thailand.
"We are in contact with Jeju Air regarding flight 2216 and stand ready to support them," Boeing said in a statement. "We extend our deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones, and our thoughts remain with the passengers and crew."
One witness, Yoo Jae-yong, 41, who was staying at a rental house near the airport, said he saw a spark on the plane's right wing before the incident, according to Yonhap News Agency.
"I was telling my family there was a problem with the plane when I heard a loud explosion," Yoo said.
Another witness, identified only by his last name, Cho, told the outlet he was taking a walk 4.5 kilometers, or about 2.8 miles, from the airport when the plane crashed into the concrete wall at the end of the runway.
"I saw the plane descending and thought it was about to land when I noticed a flash of light," Cho said. "Then there was a loud bang followed by smoke in the air, and then I heard a series of explosions."
Kim Yong-cheol, 70, said the plane was unable to land in the initial attempt and had to circle back around to try again before the crash occurred.
Kim said he heard the sound of "metallic scraping" twice about five minutes before the crash. He also said he looked up at the sky and observed the plane ascending after failing to land before he heard a "loud explosion" and noticed "black smoke billowing into the sky."
A 50-year-old witness, identified by his last name, Jung, was fishing nearby when he says he observed a flock of birds colliding with the plane, which resulted in a fire in the right engine.
"As the plane was landing on the runway, it hit a flock of birds approaching from the opposite direction," he said. "I heard two or three bangs as if the birds had been sucked into the engine before I saw flames coming from the right engine."
Kerati Kijmanawat, the director of Airports of Thailand, said in a statement that the plane departed from Suvarnabhumi Airport with no reports of abnormal conditions with the aircraft or on the runway.
Jeju Air said in a statement it expresses its "deep apology" over the crash and that it will do its "utmost to manage the aftermath of the accident."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
American teacher jailed in Russia is wrongfully detained, State Department formally says
The State Department announced that an American teacher arrested at a Russian airport on drug charges more than three years ago has been designated as wrongfully detained by the U.S. government.
Marc Fogel, a history teacher from Pennsylvania, is serving a 14-year prison sentence after his arrest in August 2021 at a Russian airport for being in possession of drugs, which his family and supporters said were medically prescribed marijuana.
Fogel was left out of a massive prisoner swap in August that freed multiple Americans, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and corporate security executive Paul Whelan.
US CITIZEN IMPRISONED IN RUSSIA GIVEN NEW 15-YEAR SENTENCE IN WAKE OF ESPIONAGE CONVICTION
After the prisoner exchange, which also freed a dozen German nationals, lawyers for Fogel's family again pushed for the Biden administration to work toward securing his freedom, including by designating him as wrongfully detained.
The State Department considers several factors when choosing whether to designate an American jailed in a foreign country as wrongfully detained, such as whether there is credible information that the person is innocent or if they are being held primarily to influence U.S. policy or secure concessions from the U.S. government.
"The United States has been working to secure Marc Fogel’s release for some time," the State Department said in a statement. "We have long called for his humanitarian release and tried to include him in the August 1 deal, but were unable to. The Secretary determined Marc is wrongfully detained in October."
Designating someone as wrongfully detained traditionally moves supervision of their case to the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs's office, which is within the State Department and focuses on negotiating for the release of hostages and other Americans classified as being wrongfully detained in foreign countries.
Fogel's wife, Jane, and his sons, Ethan and Sam, said in a statement they were grateful that the State Department "has finally acknowledged what we have known all along — that our husband and father, Marc Fogel, has and continues to be wrongfully detained."
RUSSIA DETAINS SUSPECT ACCUSED OF KILLING HIGH-RANKING GENERAL IN MOSCOW
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"Now that we have the full force of the U.S. government behind us, we must do everything in our power to bring Marc home as quickly and safely as possible," the family continued.
Plane veers off airport runway in South Korea and crashes, killing at least 177: reports
A Jeju Air flight skidded off a runway in South Korea and collided with a concrete fence, killing at least 177 people, the Associated Press reported, citing the country's National Fire Agency (NFA).
The Yonhap News Agency attributed the devastating crash, one of the worst in the country's history, to malfunctioning landing gear.
Jeju Air, a low-cost airline in South Korea, was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members in the Boeing 737-800 when the incident occurred Sunday morning local time at Muan International Airport in Muan County, South Jeolla Province, roughly 180 miles south of Seoul.
At least 177 people — 84 women, 82 men and 11 others whose genders weren’t immediately identifiable — died in the fire, the fire agency said.
According to the NFA, emergency workers rescued two people, both crew members who were conscious. Three people remained missing about nine hours after the incident.
The plane landed at 9:07 a.m. local time at the airport when the incident happened.
According to the Associated Press, the passenger plane slammed into a concrete fence on the runway after its front landing gear failed to deploy.
The plane was flying back to South Korea from Thailand, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
Photos shared by local media showed smoke billowing out of the plane.
A senior Transport Ministry official said that the flight data recorder from the plane’s black box was retrieved and that crews were still searching for the cockpit voice recording device, according to the AP.
Plane veers off airport runway in South Korea and crashes, killing at least 176: reports
A Jeju Air flight skidded off a runway in South Korea and collided with a concrete fence, killing at least 176 people, the Associated Press reported, citing the country's National Fire Agency (NFA).
The Yonhap News Agency attributed the devastating crash, one of the worst in the country's history, to malfunctioning landing gear.
Jeju Air, a low-cost airline in South Korea, was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members in the Boeing 737-800 when the incident occurred Sunday morning local time at Muan International Airport in Muan County, South Jeolla Province, roughly 180 miles south of Seoul.
At least 176 people — 83 women, 82 men and 11 others whose genders weren’t immediately identifiable — died in the fire, the fire agency said.
According to the NFA, emergency workers rescued two people, both crew members who were conscious. Three people remained missing about nine hours after the incident.
The plane landed at 9:07 a.m. local time at the airport when the incident happened.
According to the Associated Press, the passenger plane slammed into a concrete fence on the runway after its front landing gear failed to deploy.
The plane was flying back to South Korea from Thailand, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
Photos shared by local media showed smoke billowing out of the plane.
A senior Transport Ministry official said that the flight data recorder from the plane’s black box was retrieved and that crews were still searching for the cockpit voice recording device, according to the AP.
