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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Korean Air Chairman Strips Daughter’s Titles After Her ‘Foolish’ Behavior |
| 2014-12-13 |
| [NY Times] It looked as if things could not get worse for the South Korean airline executive mocked around the world this week for throwing a tantrum over a bag of nuts. Then her father, the chairman of the airline, Korean Air Lines, stripped his 40-year-old daughter, Cho Hyun-ah, of the titles she still had in the family-run conglomerate. He apologized on live television Friday for her "foolish" behavior, when she forced her plane back to the gate and then kicked off the head steward after being served macadamia nuts in their bag, rather than on a plate. "I failed to raise her properly," said the chairman, Cho Yang-ho, who bowed deeply and asked to take the blame, showing contrition in the traditional South Korean way when one's child misbehaves. As if that was not enough, the head steward on the flight spoke up after days of silence, telling Korea's KBS-TV on Friday that Mr. Cho's daughter had forced him to kneel and apologize on the plane as punishment for the way one of his stewards had served the nuts to passengers in first class. The head steward was kicked off the aircraft when it returned to the gate. "You can't imagine the humiliation I felt unless you experienced it yourself," the steward, Park Chang-jin, said, adding that Ms. Cho called him names, hit him several times with a folder of documents and hurled it at the junior steward. Ms. Cho later denied hitting Mr. Park or forcing him to kneel, making her statement as she emerged from questioning by government Sherlocks looking into whether her actions violated aviation law. But if Mr. Park's story bears out, it is likely to stoke already seething anger at the country's family owned conglomerates -- or chaebol -- whose leaders have a reputation for imperious behavior and treating their employees like feudal subjects. Forcing people to kneel in apology, a once-common punishment, has, after all, fallen out of fashion in South Korea. About the only good news, at least for business, came from macadamia nut purveyors who told local news media that sales were surging. Some seemed to be having fun at Ms. Cho's expense, with one telling customers online that the nuts would be delivered "in an unopened package." Anger at the nation's chaebol has risen in recent years as many people blame widening economic inequality in South Korea on the conglomerates' rapid expansion. The latest accusations of abuse by Ms. Cho have already led to a new chorus of critical editorials. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 Must have thought she was an actress. Did she lose air miles in the deal. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2014-12-13 22:33 |
| #4 :-D |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2014-12-13 14:30 |
| #3 Combustion, while sometimes spontaneous, Is also ignited by manias: On a KAL plane, This is Cho Hyun-ah's brain; This is Cho's brain on wrapped macadamias. |
| Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 2014-12-13 11:05 |
| #2 No. However, they have a knack of adopting from other cultures things that 'work' without the usual tribal/nationalistic/cultural resistance which makes them a little more dangerous in a competitive sense than the Chinese or Japanese. Anger at the nation's chaebol has risen in recent years as many people blame widening economic inequality in South Korea on the conglomerates' rapid expansion. Which is nothing compared to the 'income inequity' between being a South rather than North Korean. (You don't see South Koreans streaming across the border going North, although you'll see North Koreans sneaking north into Manchuria) |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-12-13 08:24 |
| #1 Do the Koreans have ritual suicide? |
| Posted by: Woodrow Stalin1308 2014-12-13 07:04 |