As it stands the Korean public does not hold the best of sentiments toward chaebol for many reasons.
Among the causes of the collective ill feeling is the fact that second, third and fourth generations of owner families are automatically put into positions of management of these conglomerates. Some of these generational transfers are qualified, with the children having been well-educated and trained from the bottom tier.
Recently a story about Cho Hyun-ah, the eldest daughter of Cho Yang-ho, chairman of Hanjin Group and CEO of Korea Air (KAL) made headlines causing anti-corporate feeling to spread further among the public.
She was flying first class ― no less, of course ― with Korean Air from JFK International Airport in New York to Incheon when she directed the captain to do a "ramp return" after having rolled away from the boarding gate. Apparently, there was a discrepancy in the serving of snacks to her and she flew into a rage, demanding that the cabin manager get off the plane.
No questions were asked. The captain simply did the ramp return and told the cabin manager to disembark from the plane while 250 passengers sat wondering what was happening. There were no explanations, just a delay in departure of more than 20 minutes causing a build up other planes that waited patiently.
Cho Hyun-ah is 40 years old and the senior vice president of KAL in charge of catering and hotel management. She became an executive at the age of 31, just seven years after she joined the company.
What is even more embarrassing is that she travelled to Hawaii last year to give birth to her child ― something rich people do to gain automatic U.S. nationality ― which made headlines.
What is even worse is that her actions came after an incident involving a senior executive of POSCO Energy who assaulted a cabin crew on a KAL flight for providing what he claimed was poor service last year.
The case was referred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the executive was eventually fired and the president of POSCO Energy came forward to declare a high level of ethics among employees and executives. For Cho Hyun-ah's part, she sympathized with the sentiments of the cabin crew, saying how much her feelings must have been hurt.
Through her outburst of anger, she not only caused inconvenience to KAL passengers, but also to those on other flights. The failure in the line of duty not only on her part but that of the captain is inexcusable.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has said an investigation and proper penalties will be levied. Whether the public will believe this promise remains to be seen.
Among the causes of the collective ill feeling is the fact that second, third and fourth generations of owner families are automatically put into positions of management of these conglomerates. Some of these generational transfers are qualified, with the children having been well-educated and trained from the bottom tier.
Recently a story about Cho Hyun-ah, the eldest daughter of Cho Yang-ho, chairman of Hanjin Group and CEO of Korea Air (KAL) made headlines causing anti-corporate feeling to spread further among the public.
She was flying first class ― no less, of course ― with Korean Air from JFK International Airport in New York to Incheon when she directed the captain to do a "ramp return" after having rolled away from the boarding gate. Apparently, there was a discrepancy in the serving of snacks to her and she flew into a rage, demanding that the cabin manager get off the plane.
No questions were asked. The captain simply did the ramp return and told the cabin manager to disembark from the plane while 250 passengers sat wondering what was happening. There were no explanations, just a delay in departure of more than 20 minutes causing a build up other planes that waited patiently.
Cho Hyun-ah is 40 years old and the senior vice president of KAL in charge of catering and hotel management. She became an executive at the age of 31, just seven years after she joined the company.
What is even more embarrassing is that she travelled to Hawaii last year to give birth to her child ― something rich people do to gain automatic U.S. nationality ― which made headlines.
What is even worse is that her actions came after an incident involving a senior executive of POSCO Energy who assaulted a cabin crew on a KAL flight for providing what he claimed was poor service last year.
The case was referred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the executive was eventually fired and the president of POSCO Energy came forward to declare a high level of ethics among employees and executives. For Cho Hyun-ah's part, she sympathized with the sentiments of the cabin crew, saying how much her feelings must have been hurt.
Through her outburst of anger, she not only caused inconvenience to KAL passengers, but also to those on other flights. The failure in the line of duty not only on her part but that of the captain is inexcusable.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has said an investigation and proper penalties will be levied. Whether the public will believe this promise remains to be seen.
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