In a now rather familiar refrain:

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- The government will conduct special safety inspections by June on all 107 planes of Korean Air, which has been troubled by a string of accidents in recent years, officials said Thursday.

On Dec. 22, a Korean Air cargo plane crashed outside London, killing all four crew members. Another Korean Air cargo plane suffered damage to its fuselage while landing in Malaysia last weekend, but no one was injured.

Aviation records indicate more than 750 people have died in a series of disasters involving Korean Air planes in the past 16 years. They include 269 people who died on Flight 007, which was shot down after straying into Soviet air space in 1983.

``The inspection is the first of its kind in our country and reflects the government's deep concern about the safety problems of Korean Air,'' said Lim E-young, an official at the Transportation Ministry's Aviation Safety Bureau.

The checks, Lim said, will be conducted in two stages -- the first by February for nine Boeing 747 planes that are more than 18 years old, and the second by June for other planes.

Just before the government decision, Korean Air said it had grounded four aging B-747 passenger and cargo planes as part of its programs to beef up safety.

The airline also announced the hiring of an American aviation expert as one of its vice presidents in charge of safety programs.

Harry D. Greenberg, 58, moved to Korean Air after 35 years of service with Delta Air Lines. In Delta, Greenberg worked mostly in safety-related areas, Korean Air officials said.