Korean Air 'nut rage' heiress accused of domestic violence

By Kang Seung-woo

Cho Hyun-ah, a disgraced former Korean Air vice president, has been accused of repeatedly assaulting her husband, according to police, Wednesday.

Her husband surnamed Park filed a complaint against Cho, Tuesday, on multiple counts, including committing acts of violence against him and abusing their twin sons, the Suseo Police Station said.

The two, who married in 2010, have been undergoing divorce proceedings since Park filed for this in last April. At the time he cited Cho's verbal and physical abuse as the cause for their divorce, and now he is demanding punishment for her acts. He is also claiming custody of their children.

Park submitted pictures and video footage showing scars on his body, caused by Cho's multiple assaults, as evidence.

Park, a plastic surgeon, has claimed Cho committed violence more frequently since her 2014 “nut rage” incident ― she delayed an international flight in New York as she was upset over the way a flight attendant served her macadamia nuts, and later served a jail term over the case. The pair has been separated since May 2017.

According to Park's complaint, Cho's acts of violence included choking him and throwing a tablet PC at him. She also threw silverware at her children because they ate slowly, and verbally abused them when they did not want to sleep at night, it added.

However, Cho's lawyers struck back by saying Park's alcoholism is what destroyed their marriage: their marital relations deteriorated because Cho prevented Park from drinking while he was receiving treatment for this.

As for the child abuse claim, they flatly denied the allegation, calling it “groundless and unilateral.”

In response, Park said his dependence on alcohol came from stress and anxiety from his marital life, with his chauffeurs keeping close tabs on him.

This is not the first time that Cho is faced with a criminal suit.

In the “nut rage” incident, she was sentenced to 10 months in prison on charges of violating aviation safety, coercion and abuse of power, although she was freed after an appeals court suspended her prison term.

Last December, the prosecution also demanded a local court fine Cho 1.5 million won for illegally hiring five Filipinas as housekeepers from 2013 to 2018, after inviting them to Korea as Korean Air workers.