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 captain held Korean and FAA First Class Airman Medical certificates, both issued on March 13, 1997, without limitations.

According to Korean Air records, the captain had accumulated a total of 8,932 hours of flight time, 2,884 hours as a military pilot and 6,048 hours as a civilian pilot. He had logged a total of 1,474 and 1,718 hours as a 747 first officer and captain, respectively. Also, Korean Air's 747 chief pilot stated, in a post accident interview, that the captain had received a Flight Safety Award in May 1997 from the company president for successfully handling an in-flight emergency involving a 747 engine failure at a low altitude.

The captain had flown 235, 144, 90, and 17 hours in the last 90, 60, 30, and 7 days, respectively, before the accident. Between December 1992 and August 1993, he had flown from Seoul to Guam eight times as a 727 captain. In addition, he had flown from Seoul to Guam as a 747 captain on July 4, 1997 (about 1 month before the accident). National Transportation Safety Board investigators interviewed the first officer from the July 4, 1997, flight. That first officer stated that the captain had contacted him by telephone 1 day before the trip and proposed that they obtain a charter briefing for Guam because they did not regularly conduct 747 operations at that airport. Consequently, the captain and first officer arrived several hours before the trip departure time and received a charter briefing from a Korean Air instructor, even though the briefing was not required. The captain and first officer watched the Guam airport familiarization video presentation and studied the approach charts for the airport. During that time, the captain commented that the area where the NIMITZ VOR is located was mountainous and required extra attention (referring to this area as a "black hole"). The first officer said the trip to Guam was routine and that the weather was good, with scattered cumulous clouds and good visibility at the airport. Further, the first officer said that the captain briefed and executed the ILS 6L approach to a routine landing.

The captain's last route check was on a round trip flight from Seoul to Narita, Japan, on July 19, 1997. A company check airman told Safety Board investigators that, although the weather conditions at Narita and Seoul were above instrument approach minimums, the captain executed the full ILS approach to each airport and received an "above standard" evaluation for the flights. The captain's last proficiency check was conducted in a Korean Air 747 simulator on June 11, 1997. According to Korean Air, the captain executed a nonprecision VOR/DME approach to runway 32L at Kimpo Airport during the proficiency check. The simulated weather conditions for the approach were 900 feet overcast and winds 290? at 11 knots. The captain received an "excellent" evaluation. A Korean Air representative told Safety Board investigators that the captain had passed the company's Level 3 Pilot English Test and had attended crew resource