Temper tantrum
Korean Air suspends ’nut rage’ sister from work over outburst at business meeting.
SEOUL: A Korean Air heiress accused of assault has been suspended by her father’s company as police launched a criminal investigation into claims she threw water into a man’s face in a business meeting.
Cho Hyunmin, a marketing executive at the South Korean flag carrier, is the latest scion of its founding family to spark controversy through her hottempered behaviour.
Four years ago, her older sister Cho Hyunah made global headlines for angrily kicking a cabin crew member off a plane after being served macadamia nuts in a bag rather than a bowl – an incident quickly dubbed “nut rage”.
The row over the younger Cho, 36, emerged after reports that she flew into a rage during a meeting with an advertising agency manager last month.
She allegedly threw water into the man’s face because she did not like one of his responses.
Seoul police, which earlier opened a preliminary inquiry to see if Cho had broken any laws, yesterday said they were launching a formal probe based on testimony of the participants in the meeting.
Following the incident, Cho sent a wideranging apology by email to “every single person at the advertising agency and Korean Air employee that I have worked with”. But her apology has failed to placate many in South Korea, where hugely powerful familyrun conglomerates have long been dogged by criticism of their founding families’ brash behaviour.
A Korean Air labour union expressed “indescribable regret” over Cho’s behaviour.
“Because of the latest controversy ... some 20,000 workers who have worked so tirelessly for the firm have become targets of public criticism,” it said.
“Why should the Korean Air employees feel so ashamed?“
The head of South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party urged the ouster of Cho.
“We should no longer see these unqualified, unethical scions (of the founding families) getting a free ride into the top management,” Choo Miae said on Monday.