SEOUL,
South Korea — Two sisters accused of abusing Korean Air employees will be
removed from management positions in their family-run corporate empire, the
company announced on Sunday, four years after one of them became notorious for
an episode known as ´nut rage´.
The
executives, Cho Hyun-ah, 43, (photo) and Cho Hyun-min, 35, have become lightning rods
for South Koreans who say that leaders of the family-run conglomerates known as
chaebol, which dominate the country’s economy, often act as if they are above
the law.
Cho Hyun-ah
became infamous in 2014 when, as a Korean Air vice president, she flew into a
rage after she was served macadamia nuts in an unopened package, rather than on
a plate, in first class. She threw documents and insults at members of the
flight crew, and she ordered flight attendants to kneel and beg for
forgiveness.
Then she
ordered the Korean Air plane pilot to go back to Kennedy International Airport
in New York where she fired the chief flight attendant.
She was
later accused of violating airline safety laws and spent several months in
prison, though she recently made a quiet return to the Hanjin conglomerate for
which her father, Cho Yang-ho, is chairman. She is now managing a hotel
business that he controls.
This month,
the police began investigating accusations of physical abuse against her
younger sister, Cho Hyun-min, a Korean Air marketing executive. She was accused
of insulting an advertising executive and hurling water in his face during a
business meeting.
Ms. Cho
said she threw the water on the floor, not at the official’s face, but
nevertheless apologized for what she called foolish and reckless behavior.
The family
has become so unpopular that South Koreans want national authorities to ban
Korean Air from using “Korean” in its name.
Mr. Cho,
the company chairman, apologized in a statement on Sunday: “I am deeply sorry
that problems connected to my family have worried the people and employees of
Korean Air,” he said. “As chairman of Korean Air and as the head of my family,
I feel crushed by the immature behavior of my daughters. They will be
immediately removed from management'".
Mr. Cho also said he will introduce professional
managers to top company posts. His son, Cho Won-tae, will remain as president
of Korean Air.
South
Korea’s wealthy families are entangled in several corruption scandals. But
the chaebol will continue to endure, critics say, because they are crucial to
the country’s economy.
From The New York Times (edited)
