She was a Korean Air vice president at the time and was sitting in first class aboard a Korean Air flight bound for Seoul when she was given macadamia nuts in an unopened package rather than on a plate, as per the airline's rules, The Washington Post reported. Cho reportedly flew into a rage over the nuts, verbally abusing flight staff and forcing them to apologise on their knees. She then ordered the plane - already taxiing and carrying 250 passengers - to return to the gate and had the offending flight attendants ejected, according to the Washington Post.
In the wake of "nut rage," Cho Hyun-ah was fired by her father and charged with obstructing aviation safety. She was sentenced to a year in prison, but only served a few months, before returning to the company to become president of its hotel business, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Her younger sister, Cho Hyun-min, who also goes by Emily Cho, followed in her footsteps last month when she allegedly verbally abused and threw water at an employee of the airline's advertising agency during a business meeting, Yonhap reported. The Korea Times reported that she was "enraged" at the employee's work performance. She denied throwing water but acknowledged shoving the employee, the BBC reported.
Cho Hyun-min publicly apologised for the fracas, saying her behaviour was "foolish and reckless." The incident is being called "water rage."
"I sincerely apologise for upsetting the general public and employees at Korean Air over issues related to members of my family," their father said in the statement.
The apologies have done little to quell outrage, with many seeing the recent incident as another example of leaders of powerful family-run companies, also known as chaebol, acting with unchecked power, as The Post's Anna Fifield has reported. Cho Yang-ho is chairman of the Hanjin Group, the conglomerate that owns Korean Air.
Protests have grown so heated, some people even petitioned the South Korean president's office to ban the airline from using "Korean" in its name, the New York Times reported.
Police have launched an investigation into the allegations against Cho Hyun-min. The sisters are also being investigated for allegedly using the airline to smuggle luxury goods, furniture and other personal items into the country, the Korea Times reported.
In Sunday's statement, the father attempted to mitigate backlash by announcing the company would establish a "compliance committee . . . prevent reoccurrence of similar incidents," Korea JoongAng Daily reported. He also promised to increase the power of the company's board of directors.
"As chairman of Korean Air and head of a household, I can't help but feel terrible about the immature behavior that my daughter has done," Cho Yang-ho said in the statement. "I am to blame for everything. I apologise to everyone."
