'Nut rage' whistleblower Park Chang-jin named KAC Airport Service executive

Park Chang-jin, head of planning at KAC Airport Service / Korea Times file

Park Chang-jin, the former Korean Air chief flight attendant who exposed the 2014 "nut rage" incident, was appointed head of planning at KAC Airport Service, a subsidiary of Korea Airports Corp., the company said Thursday.

KAC Airport Service said Park officially assumed the post, which carries the rank of managing director, on Tuesday.

“Based on the support and solidarity I received on the front lines, I will be a planning chief who works alongside frontline staff and employees,” he said in his inaugural remarks.

KAC Airport Service was established in December 2017 under the Moon Jae-in administration to convert contract public sector workers to full-time status.

The company handles airport facility management, including equipment maintenance, fueling, parking support and cleaning, at airports in the central region, including Gimpo and Cheongju. It has about 1,100 employees.

Park will oversee strategy, human resources, labor relations, budget, organization, performance, public relations, finance and accounting.

Park joined Korean Air in 1996 as a cabin crew member and later worked as a VIP flight attendant. The airline promoted him to chief flight attendant in 2005.

In 2014, he exposed the "nut rage" incident involving Cho Hyun-ah, a former vice president from the airline’s controlling family, after she caused an onboard disturbance. He later came into conflict with the company, left the airline in January 2020 and entered politics.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.