Korean Air ‘nut rage’ exec gets year in prison

Heiress was angry over snack being offered in a bag.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — An onboard tantrum dubbed “nut rage” culminated Thursday in a oneyear prison sentence for Korean Air heiress Cho Hyun-ah, a humiliating rebuke that only partially quelled public outrage at the excesses of South Korea’s business elite.

Cho, the daughter of Korean Air’s chairman, achieved notoriety after she ordered the chief flight attendant off a Dec. 5 flight, forcing it to return to the gate at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. Head of cabin service at the time of the incident, Cho was angered she had been offered macadamia nuts in a bag instead of on a dish. A heated confrontation with members of the crew in first class ensued.

A Seoul court said Cho, 40, was guilty of forcing a flight to change its route, obstructing the flight’s captain in the performance of his duties, forcing a crew member off a plane and assaulting a crew member. It found her not guilty of interfer- ing with a transport ministry investigation into the incident. Cho pleaded not guilty and prosecutors had called for three years in prison.

Cho, in custody since Dec. 30, wept as a letter expressing her remorse was read to the court by judge Oh Seong-woo.

It included details about how Cho, one of the richest women in South Korea, was adjusting to conditions in prison and reflecting on her life. “I know my faults and I’m very sorry,” Cho said in her letter.

Her behavior caused an uproar in South Korea. The incident was a lightning rod for anger in a country where the economy is dominated by family-run conglomerates known as chaebol that often act above the law.

Chaebol chiefs convicted of white-collar crimes have typically received suspended prison sentences and presidential pardons. Courts have often acknowledged the contribution of such industrialists in transforming South Korea from an economic backwater into a developed economy. But the Cho case indicates South Korean society is less indulgent of second- and third-generation members of high-profile business families.