Korean Air chairman's daughter sentenced to 1 year in prison

The daughter of the chairman of Korean Air will serve a year in prison after the “macadamia nut incident” disrupted a flight and sparked heavy public criticism of the behavior of figures from large family-owned business groups in South Korea.

Prosecutors have demanded a three-year prison sentence for Cho Hyun-Ah, former vice president of Korean Air, for violating aviation safety rules, obstructing justice and assaulting a crew member.

Cho Hyun-Ah. Source: AP

The charges were filed after a Korean Air flight from New York to Seoul on December 5 was forced to return to the airport minutes after departure, after Ms. Cho became angry that a flight attendant mistakenly served her macadamia nuts that she did not request, and served them in a bag instead of a bowl.

The court found that Ms. Cho had illegally ordered the plane to be rerouted. Judge Oh Sung-Woo said that she had treated the plane “as if it were her own private jet,” and questioned whether the macadamia nuts had actually been served improperly.

When the judge read out the sentence, he said that Ms. Cho showed no remorse, despite having sent several letters to the court expressing remorse for her actions. Throughout the sentencing, Ms. Cho stood silently with her head bowed.

She had previously pleaded not guilty to most of the charges, including assaulting the flight's chief stewardess, Park Chang-Jin, who claimed she was forced to kneel and beg for forgiveness by Ms. Cho, as well as being hit on the head with a service manual.

The Korean Air case has sparked a public outcry. Ms. Cho is seen as a symbol of the spoiled and arrogant offspring of the heads of the giant family-owned conglomerates, or chaebols, that dominate the South Korean economy. In the past, chaebols have often shown themselves to be above the law. When major illegal business dealings were exposed, they received light sentences or were pardoned after only a short jail term.

For her part, Ms. Cho resigned from all positions she held and issued a public apology for her actions. Her father, Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-Ho, also criticized her daughter's actions as "stupid." The incident made international news, and in his sentencing, Judge Cho called it "a national disgrace."

According to Vietnam+