After Alleged Reign of Terror, Korean Air Sisters Resign

'Nut rage' exec Heather Cho, sister Emily Cho step down after high-profile incidents
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 23, 2018 7:30 AM CDT
Korean Air's 'Nut Rage' Exec, Sister Step Down From Jobs
Former Korean Air executive Cho Hyun-ah, center, leaves the Seoul High Court in Seoul, South Korea, on May 22, 2015.   (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

People in South Korea are tiring of abusive bigwigs in the country's chaebol—family-run conglomerates often mired in corruption and scandal—and now the head of one of its most famous ones is taking action against his own daughters. Per the New York Times, Korean Air chief Cho Yang-ho announced in a statement Sunday he was removing Cho Hyun-ah (aka Heather Cho, said to be 43 or 44) and her younger sister, Cho Hyun-min (aka Emily Cho, 34 or 35), from their executive roles within the company after a series of high-profile incidents, including Cho Hyun-ah's "nut rage" outburst on a Korean Air flight in late 2014 that ended up earning her nearly five months in prison. After her stint behind bars, she found another high-level job within her father's conglomerate, this time running a hotel business.

Now marketing exec Cho Hyun-min is in the spotlight as she faces allegations of a business meeting that went awry (she's accused of hurling water in the face of one of the meeting attendees; police are looking into it), as well as a recently released audio tape purporting to document her yelling at Korean Air officials. One person who seems particularly mortified (at least on paper) about the women's behavior: their father. "I am deeply sorry that problems connected to my family have worried the people and employees of Korean Air," Cho Yang-ho said in a statement Sunday. "I feel crushed by the immature behavior of my daughters." He adds, per the Guardian: "Everything is my fault and my wrongdoing." His son, Cho Won-tae, who's president of Korean Air, was accused of assaulting an elderly woman in 2005 after she yelled at him for the way he drove, per the Wall Street Journal. (More Korean Air stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X