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PHOTOS Korean Air heiress' crocodile's tears?

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Korean Air heiress Cho Hyun-min faces the press as she arrives at the Seoul Gangseo Police Station in the morning on May 1 for questioning over allegations she splashed water in the face of an advertising agency official. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Korean Air heiress Cho Hyun-min sobs as she answers questions by journalists before entering the Seoul Gangseo Police Station on May 1. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Korean Air heiress Cho Hyun-min faces the press as she arrives at the Seoul Gangseo Police Station on May 1 for alleged assault and obstruction of business. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Korean Air heiress Cho Hyun-min enters the Seoul Gangseo Police Station on May 1 for questioning over alleged assault and obstruction of business. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Oh Young-jin

Cho Hyun-min, Korean Air executive and daughter of the national flag carrier’s Chairman Cho Yang-ho, kept saying, “I am sorry” to reporters’ questions.

Presenting herself as a suspect in a potential case of using violence, Cho’s voice was barely audible, causing some to question whether she was the same person who was taped throwing a major tantrum against an advertising agency manager during a presentation.

Cho admitted yelling and swearing at the ad manager, pushing him and throwing water from a paper cup. But she is suspected of throwing a glass cup, which, if proven, could result in her being charged with aggravated assault.

Asked whether she thought her pushing was “gapgil,” a socially condemned bullying act by using a dominant position, the 180 centimeters tall heiress, who dwarfed reporters, said, “I am sorry.”

Asked what she thought of her mother’s videotaped paroxysm of anger against contract workers, she repeated her apology.

Asked what she thought of calls for her family to give up managing control of the carrier, she repeated herself.

It was like de ja vu of when her sister Hyun-ah was summoned over the “nut rage” incident in 2014, when she repeated apologies to reporters’ questions.