Traces and wreckage of the Jeju Air plane that crashed and exploded after attempting a belly landing is seen at Muan International Airport in Muan County, South Jeolla Province, Dec. 30. Yonhap

The remains of 141 of the 179 people killed in this week's Jeju Air plane crash have tentatively been identified, the land ministry said Monday.

During a briefing for victims' families at Muan International Airport in the county 288 kilometers south of Seoul, the ministry said 165 bodies have been moved to a temporary morgue.

"Once we are ready to transfer the bodies following autopsies by investigation agencies, we will contact the families," an official said.

The victims' belongings are being gathered from the runway where the plane belly-landed and crashed into a barrier the previous day, killing 179 of the 181 people onboard.

The site will be preserved pending authorities' investigation into the cause of the accident. (Yonhap)