South Korean Missionary Couple, Baby On AirAsia Missing Plane

Three South Koreans are believed to have been passengers on the AirAsia Missing Plane that disappeared off the radar in a flight from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore. South Korea offered to join search and rescue mission with a military patrol plane to search for wreckage and bodies. The South Korean family on board the ill-fated flight on December 28 was missionary couple with a 11-month infant. They were traveling to Singapore to renew their work visas in East Indonesia.

The lay Christian minister was identified as Park Seong-beom, 37, Lee Kyung-hwa, 36, his wife and Park Yuna, their 11-month daughter . Park left Korea to be a lay minister in SouthAsia. Yeosu First Presbyterian Church, 450km south of Seoul near a fishing village in South Korea sent Park and his wife as missionaries to Indonesia.

"We found out that they were on the plane from the people who were waiting for them in Singapore," church spokesman, Kim Jong Heon said. "And later that was confirmed by local media that was reporting on the missing plane, that it was really the missionary's family."

Kim Seong Ryeong, Park's Sunday school teacher told Channel NewsAsia, "He was strong in his faith and wanted to be of service to people more than anything."

He added, "He wanted to contribute what skills he had to other people. We feel devastated that he and his family are missing."

Mr Park, 36, had lived in Cambodia as a missionary for four years, before being sent to Indonesia where he had been teaching Korean and computer skills to children.

"He had good local contacts and helped poor people in need," church spokesman Mr Kim said. "He was always thinking about how to meet more locals and eventually left the country to be a lay minister."