Daughter of Korean Air chief apologizes over "foolish behaviour"

Jin Air Co

12/04/2018 10:54

By Haejin Choi
    SEOUL, April 12 (Reuters) - A daughter of the chairman of
Korean Air Lines  003490.KS  apologized on Thursday for her
"foolish behaviour", following media reports that she threw a
water bottle at the face of a manager at the airline's
advertising agency.
    It is the latest controversy to engulf the chairman's family
after the so-called "nut rage" incident, when his elder daughter
Heather Cho flew into a rage on an aircraft over the manner in
which she was served nuts in first class.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1OL2HV
    That episode unleashed scorn and outrage in a country whose
economy is dominated by family-run conglomerates known as
chaebol, and where many are fed up with the rich and powerful
escaping punishment for bad behaviour.
    In the latest incident, angered by the manager's inability
to answer a question, Cho Hyun-min, a senior vice president of
Korean Air, threw a bottle at a wall, followed by another at the
individual's face, the Kookmin Ilbo newspaper and other media
said, quoting a posting on anonymous mobile application Blind.  
    Reuters was unable to independently confirm the details of
the incident.
    In a posting on Facebook, Cho, who is also executive vice
president at budget affiliate Jin Air  272450.KS , said her
behaviour was unacceptable, calling her action "foolish and
careless", but gave no details.    
    "Although I have great love toward the advertisements, it is
more important to have respect and appreciation for other
people," she added.
    "So it is my big fault that I was not able to manage my
feelings."
    She had apologized to officials at the meeting, she said.
    A spokesman for Korean Airlines said a water bottle was
thrown on the floor, and not at a manager's face.
    "During the meeting, she thought the manager’s answer was
not sufficient, so she threw a water bottle on the floor, not at
the manager's face," the spokesman told Reuters.
    Officials of the advertising agency were not immediately
available for comment.
    Shares of Korean Air ended down 6.55 percent and Jin Air
went down 3.99 percent. 
    In 2014, Cho's elder sister had demanded the removal of a
flight attendant from a plane before takeoff, as she was
displeased that he served her macadamia nuts in a bag, rather
than in a dish. 
    She was charged with violation of aviation law, among other
offences, in 2015, and South Korea’s Supreme Court last year
upheld her 10-month suspended sentence.

 (Reporting by Haejin Choi; Editing by Hyunjoo Jin and Clarence
Fernandez)
 ((Haejin.Choi@thomsonreuters.com;))