Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Prosecutors seek 3 years in prison for Heather Cho
By Kim Rahn
Heather Cho
By Kim Rahn
Prosecutors demanded a three-year prison term for former Korean Air Executive Vice President Heather Cho at her trial over the “nut rage” incident, Monday.
This came after the prosecution concluded she forced a flight from JFK International Airport in New York to change course, an allegation that has a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Cho was indicted and jailed after she ordered a plane bound for Incheon to return to the gate from a taxiing area at the airport on Dec. 5 and kicked a chief flight attendant off the plane as she was dissatisfied at the way a junior attendant served her macadamia nuts, in a bag and not presented on a plate.
Other charges against her include: committing acts of violence that disturbed flight safety; coercion; interfering with business; and interfering with official duties using her authority.
Prosecutors said Cho used violence and abusive language to the attendants over the in-flight service issue and ordered the chief flight attendant off the plane, clearly violating flight safety regulations.
“Cho still blames the chief and junior flight attendants for causing the incident,” a prosecutor said at the hearing in the Seoul Western District Court. “She made a public apology only because of pressure from an angry public, but she seems to have failed to really reflect on herself.”
Cho admitted her abusive language and violence, but claimed the incident all started due to the junior attendant’s “wrong service.” She also said she did not know the plane had started moving.
The chief flight attendant, Park Chang-jin, attended the hearing as a witness. It was the first encounter between Park and Cho since the incident.
Park went on sick leave for 50 days after the incident because he was suffering from panic disorder and extreme stress. He returned to work Sunday.
Park testified that Cho hit him and pushed the junior attendant to the door of the aircraft.
He also claimed Cho has never admitted any wrongdoing, and that she and her father, Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho, have never apologized to him although they told the media that they would. “The owner family forced workers to sacrifice, like the workers were slaves in feudal times. She infringed on my right to work and my dignity,” he said.
Speculation ran high that Korean Air would fire him or demote him to a less important post because he disclosed details of Cho’s use of violence and abuse of authority to the media. But the senior Cho said in a previous hearing Friday that he would guarantee that Park could continue to work at the company without any problems.
However, Park said the company has attempted to treat him differently from other workers with special monitoring. He claimed the company gave him a harsh schedule for February with an unusual number of early morning flights, implying revenge, but the firm said the schedule was set automatically by computer.