Kumho chairman to blame for Asiana's in-flight meal crisis

Kumho Asiana Chairman Park Sam-koo apologizes for Asiana's unprecedented in-flight meal shortage at the Kumho Asiana headquarters in Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap

By Park Jae-hyuk

Kumho Asiana Chairman Park Sam-koo is to blame for Asiana Airlines' ongoing “in-flight meal crisis” as he risked the carrier's operations to line his own pockets, industry analysts said Wednesday.

Although the chairman apologized late in the day to Asiana's customers, employees and subcontractors for the air carrier's failure to prevent the problem, he still faces mounting criticism for his mismanagement.

Park allegedly ended Asiana's contract with its in-flight meal supplier of 15 years because the company refused to invest 150 billion won ($146 million) in a company he owned.

As a replacement, the chairman set up a joint venture with a Chinese company to supply the meals. However, a factory fire prevented the new firm from supplying meals on time. The carrier had no other choice but to temporarily receive in-flight meals from a smaller supplier that was unable to meet demand.

The analysts said Park's “irrational” attempt to attract investment to rebuild his fallen empire has led to Asiana's unprecedented in-flight meal shortage, raising doubts about his managerial capability and integrity.

The situation was further deteriorated after his 40-year-old daughter with no work experience was appointed as an executive of a group subsidiary.

Now, some Asiana employees are moving to organize a rally in Gwanghwamun Square, Friday, to highlight the chairman's mismanagement, including the “unreasonable” demand made to the previous in-flight meal provider.

According to Lufthansa subsidiary LSG Sky Chefs, which had provided in-flight meals to Asiana, in 2016 Kumho Asiana demanded that it buy bonds with warrants worth 160 billion won issued by the group's holding company, Kumho Holdings.

Industry sources said Park, who controls the holding firm, wanted to use the money to rebuild the group, as he was reportedly trying to regain possession of Kumho Tire by acquiring a 42 percent stake.

LSG rejected the demand, and so in retaliation Asiana signed a 30-year catering service deal with Gate Gourmet Korea, the joint venture with China's HNA Group.

HNA then acquired the bonds with warrants issued by Kumho Holdings. LSG reported Asiana to the Fair Trade Commission last August for unfair trade practices.

Gate Gourmet Korea's catering services were supposed to begin July 1, but a fire at the construction site of its new production facility in March prevented the supply of meals, which won't start until October.

To cope with this, the carrier signed a three-month supply contract with a smaller firm, Sharp DO & CO, but it failed to supply enough meals to Asiana.

During a press conference at the Kumho Asiana headquarters, Wednesday, Park denied rumors about alleged unfair practices, saying, “Gate Gourmet offered better prices and quality than LSG. Also, LSG has declined to reveal the unit cost of the meals, so we decided to sign a deal with a new partner.”

Park Sae-jin

Jobless heiress becomes exec

Against this backdrop, Kumho Asiana said the chairman's daughter, Park Sae-jin, began serving as an executive of Kumho Resort from this month.

Before the appointment, she was a full-time housewife who had never managed a company.

“Actually the resort unit is not that important for the entire group, so I wanted my daughter to get management training at Kumho Resort,” the chairman said. “Her major is related to her position and she also studied in Japan. I just hope she can make a small contribution to the company.”

However, questions have been raised over whether she is qualified for the role, because she has never worked in the resort business.

According to Kumho Asiana, the Ewha Womans University graduate learned cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Tokyo and Le Cordon Bleu London. Then, she studied at the Tokyo Institute of Tourism, Hattori Nutrition College and Sophia University in Japan.

She also worked for the ANA InterContinental Tokyo between 2002 and 2005.