Korean Air 'nut rage' sister apologises for angry outburst (updated)

Jin Air Co

16/04/2018 08:26

* Cho says she did not throw cup of water at anyone's face
    * Petitions seek to remove "Korean" from airline name
    * Chaebol offspring inspire less loyalty than founders -
professor

 (Adds comment from academic, Cho retaining lawyer)
    By Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin
    SEOUL, April 16 (Reuters) - Korean Air Lines' unions have
called for the youngest daughter of its chairman, a sister of
the infamous 'nut rage' heiress, to step down from management
after her alleged abusive behaviour against an advertising
agency official caused public outrage. 
    Cho Hyun-min, also known as Emily Cho and a senior vice
president at Korean Air  003490.KS , apologised on Thursday for
what she called her "foolish behaviour" after media reports said
she threw water at the face of an advertising agency manager
during a recent business meeting.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1RP3AS
    Korean Air said on Friday, in response to media reports Cho
had thrown a water bottle at someone's face, said she had thrown
either a water bottle or a cup on the floor, but not at anyone's
face. On Monday, the airline said it was a cup. 
    Cho, speaking to TV channel MBC after she cut short a
vacation overseas and arrived at Incheon International Airport
on Sunday, denied she had thrown a cup of water at the manager's
face but said she had "pushed" it.
    She said her action was "foolish". 
    Cho hired a lawyer from one of South Korea's largest law
firms, Shin & Kim, to represent her, an official at the law firm
said on Monday, after police launched a preliminary inquiry to
see whether Cho had abused her power or broken any law.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1RQ1VJ
    Korean Air said on Monday it was aware of the police probe.
"After we observe the outcome of the investigation, the company
plans to take appropriate measures," the airline said. 
    It is the latest controversy to engulf the owner family of
South Korea's largest airline group. 
    Cho's elder sister Cho Hyun-ah, or Heather Cho, made
headlines over a notorious "nut rage" incident in 2014, when she
lost her temper over the way she was served nuts in first class
before takeoff from New York.
    Heather Cho demanded the flight crew chief be expelled from
the plane after she was served macadamia nuts in a bag and not
on a dish. The South Korea-bound plane had to return to the
gate.
    Cho was sentenced to one year in jail for violating airline
safety laws, but was released after five months. She returned as
an executive of Korean Air's hotel affiliate in March. 
    Her younger sister's tantrum has reignited public impatience
with family-run conglomerates known as chaebol, over what some
South Koreans see as unchecked bad behaviour by the rich and
powerful, especially second and third-generation children of the
founders. 
    "Founders of conglomerates are considered myths, sacred.
They have legitimacy, because they built the conglomerates from
nothing," said Chang Sea-jin, a business professor at Korea
Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. 
    "But second-generation and third-generation leaders do not
have such legitimacy. They are simply born with 'golden spoons'
in their mouths," he said.   
    
    REPUTATIONAL DAMAGE
    Korean Air's employee union and two pilots' unions said in a
joint statement on Sunday that Cho Hyun-min's actions harmed the
reputation of Korean Air. They want her to step down and offer a
sincere apology to all employees and the public. 
    "The controversy surrounding management taking advantage of
its power has become the most-searched term and the subject of
unending breaking news, and ... leading to criticism for around
20,000 employees who have devoted blood and sweat working on the
front lines," the unions said. 
    "Why must our employees feel shame? Why must our employees,
who have committed no crime, be the subject of criticism?"
    Cho apologised to employees in a mass email on Sunday,
according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters.
    "As I was focusing on my passion for the work, I was unable
to control my thoughtless words and deeds, through which I
caused injury and disappointment for a lot of people," she said.
    Korean Air confirmed that the email was sent to all Korean
Air employees, but declined to comment further.
    Traditionally loyal to their employers and reluctant to
become a whistleblower due to fears of retaliation, more rank
and file employees are now reporting problems, encouraged by
growing public and government calls to reform chaebols in the
wake of corruption scandals, said Park Ju-gun, the head of
corporate analysis firm CEO Score.
    Former South Korean president Park Geun-hye was sentenced to
24 years in jail this month on charges of receiving or demanding
bribes from top conglomerates including Samsung and Lotte.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1RJ1N7 
    "The environment has changed. The government has changed,"
Park said. 
    Dozens of petitions demanding that Cho be punished and
"Korean" removed from the airline's name were posted on Monday
on the presidential Blue House's online petition page.
    One petition calling for the change to the company's name
had 50,182 signatures by mid-day.
    Shares in Korean Air Lines fell 4 percent in early trade to
a near three-week low, while shares of its home rival Asiana
Airlines  020560.KS  rose 3.5 percent.

 (Additional reporting by Dahee Kim
Editing by Soyoung Kim and Darren Schuettler)
 ((jungyoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5609; Reuters
Messaging: jungyoon.lee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))