South Korea’s leading low-cost carrier, heavy with debt and its stock already near record lows, is now facing intense public and government scrutiny.

After overcoming pariah status at the end of the last century, South Korea must learn what caused the catastrophe on Dec. 29 and what lessons to draw from it.

The South Korean authorities have extended the closure of a south-western airport where a Jeju Air plane crashed and killed 179 people on board, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on Jan.