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Park Chan-kyong

Cho Won-tae, the chairman of Korean Air and brother of the woman behind the infamous “nut rage” scandal, has apologised this week for getting into a fight with his mother on Christmas Day.
According to local reports, Cho, 43, visited his mother, Lee Myung-hee, to celebrate the festive season at her house, where he also discussed the future of the family business.
During the conversation, Cho reportedly blew up and went on a rampage, leaving his mother with cuts on her arm. He was believed to have wielded a wall fireplace poker, shattering a vase that sent shards flying.
Newspapers published a picture of broken vase shards on the floor, and another image showing cut wounds on a woman’s arm, with blood spots splattered on the floor.

한진그룹 일가에서 아들인 조원태 회장이 어머니 이명희 씨의 집에서 유리창을 깨는 등 행패를 부린 데 대한 사과문을 내놨습니다. https://t.co/VAMN8NYSmd
— MBC News (MBC 뉴스) (@mbcnews) December 30, 2019

The images were leaked to the press after Lee emailed them to company officials asking for protection.
“We are deeply sorry for causing concerns to many people over an unpleasant incident on Christmas Day,” Cho said in a statement jointly released with his mother on Monday. “We sincerely apologise for causing trouble at Lee’s house last Christmas.”
Cho said he’d told his mother he was sorry and she accepted his apology.

The family would abide by the last wishes of Cho’s father, the late group chairman Cho Yang-ho, to maintain family unity and cooperate in managing the business conglomerate, Cho said in the statement.
Cho was appointed as chairman of Hanjin Group’s holding company, Hanjin KAL, after his father, who had been facing trial for allegedly embezzling 19.6 billion won (US$17 million), died from a chronic disease in April.

In the feud, Cho accused his mother of siding with his sister, “nut rage heiress” Cho Hyun-ah, who has criticised him for sidelining his two sisters, against their late father’s instructions. She last week filed a complaint against her brother through a law firm.
If Cho Hyun-ah bands together with her mother, the pair’s combined stake in Hanjin KAL would rise to 11.8 per cent.
Her brother Cho, who holds a 6.52 per cent stake, is seeking re-election as head of Hanjin Group at the general shareholders’ meeting in March 2020.

Chung Sun-Sup, an expert on South Korea’s family conglomerates, known as chaebol, said bitter feuds among the powerful families are far from rare.
Some of the country’s biggest chaebol, including Samsung, Hyundai and Lotte Group, have been engaged in disputes over management and property rights.
“I blame the country’s anachronistic corporate governance system, where large shareholders almost automatically become CEOs and other executives,” Chung said.
“Chaebol families consider companies as their own private businesses … If you fail to secure management rights, you can hardly have your voice heard as shareholders there,” he said. “That is why chaebol family members fight each other so fiercely.”
Korean ‘nut rage’ heiress slams brother over running of family business empire
The Cho family and their mother have made several headlines over the years.
In 2014, Cho Hyun-ah stepped down from her role at Korean Air after she threw a fit when she was served macadamia nuts in a packet instead of in a bowl during a flight, and then forced the plane to turn back to kick out a flight attendant.
Another sister, Cho Hyun-min, also resigned as a Korean Air executive in 2018 after she created a stir by allegedly throwing a drink from a cup in the face of a business associate during a meeting, in an incident dubbed as “juice rage”.
Public anger as mother of ‘nut rage’ heiress avoids arrest after employee assault claims
Lee, the family matriarch, was in court with Cho Hyun-ah in May 2019 on charges of illegally hiring housekeepers from the Philippines , for which Lee received a suspended jail sentence.
She has also reportedly waged physical and verbal abuse against her employees.


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South Korea

Vase smashed, mum hurt: Korean Air boss Cho Won-tae, brother of ‘nut rage’ heiress, flies into rage at family party

Cho Won-tae, chairman of Korean Air. Photo: Bloomberg

Former Korean Air executive Cho Hyun-ah, center, daughter of late Korean Air President Cho Yang-ho, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, Thursday, May 2, 2019. Cho and his wife Lee Myung-hee, on Thursday attended the opening trial on her charges including illegal hiring of a Filipino maid. (Suh Myung-gon/Yonhap via AP)

FILE PHOTO: Korean Air Lines Chairman Cho Yang-ho arrives at a prosecutor's office in Seoul, South Korea, June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo

Lee Myung-hee (left), the wife of late Hanjin Group chairman, and her son Cho Won-tae, current Korean Air chairman. Photos: AP, Bloomberg

Korean ‘nut rage’ heiress Heather Cho slams brother over running of family business empire

Former Korean Air executive Heather Cho leaves Seoul Central District Court in May. Photo: Yonhap via AP

Cho Yang-ho, the chairman of Korean Air Lines Co., arrives to take the stand for his eldest daughter Cho Hyun-ah, former vice president of Korean Air Line Co., at the Seoul Western District Court in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. Cho Hyun-ah, who delayed a flight and forced a flight attendant off the plane over a bag of nuts, is scheduled to stand on trial on Friday. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Public anger as mother of Korean Air ‘nut rage’ heiress avoids arrest after employee assault claims

Lee Myung-hee, the wife of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho, leaves a police station in Seoul after questioning. Photo: EPA

Korean Air ‘nut rage’ heiress Cho Hyun-ah and her mother appear in court, charged with illegally hiring 11 Philippine housekeepers

Former Korean Air executive Cho Hyun-ah. Photo: AP

Lee Myung-hee, wife of the late Korean Air President Cho Yang-ho, center, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, Thursday, May 2, 2019. Lee on Thursday attended the opening trial on their charges including illegal hiring of a Filipino maid. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

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Cho Won-tae visited his mother for a festive celebration, only for things to turn ugly over a business discussion
His sibling, Cho Hyun-ah, who caused the infamous ‘nut rage’ scandal, has accused him of sidelining his two sisters in the family’s conglomerate



Cho Won-tae, the chairman of Korean Air, visited his mother for a festive celebration, only for things to get ugly during a discussion of the family business.


Christmas

Crime

Hanjin

Vase smashed, mum hurt: Korean Air boss Cho Won-tae, brother of ‘nut rage’ heiress, flies into rage at family party

Cho Won-tae visited his mother for a festive celebration, only for things to turn ugly over a business discussion His sibling, Cho Hyun-ah, who caused the infamous ‘nut rage’ scandal, has accused him of sidelining his two sisters in the family’s conglomerate

Cho Won-tae visited his mother for a festive celebration, only for things to turn ugly over a business discussion

His sibling, Cho Hyun-ah, who caused the infamous ‘nut rage’ scandal, has accused him of sidelining his two sisters in the family’s conglomerate