South Korea court suspends 'nut rage' executive's prison term

[webfact]

South Korea court suspends 'nut rage' executive's prison term
YOUKYUNG LEE, AP Business Writer

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court Friday suspended the prison term of the former Korean Air executive whose onboard "nut rage" tantrum delayed a flight last year, immediately ending her incarceration.

Cho Hyun-ah, who is the daughter of the airline's chairman, did not violate aviation security law when 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, according to the Seoul High Court.

The upper court sentenced Cho to 10 months in prison and then suspended the sentence for two years. It said she was guilty of using violence against flight attendants. A lower court had earlier sentenced Cho to a year in prison. She has been locked up since her December arrest.

She achieved worldwide notoriety after an onboard tantrum triggered when a first class flight attendant served her macadamia nuts in a bag instead of on a dish. Cho, head of the airline's cabin service at the time, had a heated, physical confrontation with members of the crew.

Swarmed by reporters at the court, she made no comment in front of the TV cameras, bowing her head and burying her face in her hands as the media pressed in and yelled for her to say something.

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.

The lower court had convicted Cho 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 interfering with a transport ministry investigation into the incident. Cho pleaded not guilty and prosecutors had called for three years in prison.

The aviation security law is meant to regulate highly dangerous acts such as hijacking. But the upper court said Friday that there wasn't a big safety threat posed by Cho's actions, and returning the plane that was taxiing did not constitute forcing a change in the plane's route.

Kim Sang-hwan, head of the three judge upper court panel, said that even though Cho used violence against crew members, she should be given a second chance. The judge also cited her "internal change" since she began serving her prison term as a reason for lessening the sentence.

The upper court also took into consideration that Cho is the mother of 2-year-old twins and had never committed any offense before. She has resigned from her position at the airline.

"It appears that she will have to live under heavy criticism from society and stigma," said Kim.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-05-22

[Mango Bob]

Hope she learned a lesson while in jail.

[Anthony5]

Hope she learned a lesson while in jail.

While in jail? She hasn't seen the jail even from the outside, less so from the inside, this is a society that can be compared with Thailand.

in a country where the economy is dominated by family-run conglomerates known as chaebol that often act above the law.

[z42]

Learn to read anthonyS. She has been locked up since her December arrest.

The fact she appeared to have changed while incarcerated influenced the judges decision to lighten the sentence.

I think she has been punished enough. She now knows full well she isn't above the law. Incidentally Thai justice is in a different dimension and barely comparable to Thai justice

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

According to the OP AP report, she has indeed been in jail prior to the court ruling suspending her sentence:

She has been locked up since her December arrest.

So at least, she served some time in jail along with the ordinary folks -- a good lesson for her, I hope.

Had the same/equivalent thing happened in Thailand, of course, she never would have served a day, and the victim flight attendants probably would have been fired.

I'd say, this kind of case shows what can go wrong when an organization puts someone into a high-ranking position merely because of family connections/influence -- something Thailand also knows quite a lot about.

Edited May 22, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Also... Wiki has a couple interesting tidbits on this incident that I wasn't aware of before:

After the incident was made public, it was revealed that in 2013 Cho had attacked a flight attendant who served her improperly cooked ramen noodles. This incident had been covered up by the airline, which found no wrongdoing.^[13]

........

Cho resigned her vice-presidency in Korean Air.^[1][19] She initially said she would resign from all positions, but actually kept her position as chairperson of Korean Air, president of KAL Hotel Network and Hanjin Tour.[10

........

On January 12, 2015, a member of the National Assembly of South Korea released papers from Cho's indictment which showed for the first time that macadamia nuts were properly served in a bag, according to the airline's manual.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_rage_incident

Edited May 22, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

you see it's not just Thailand. The whole world has 2 sets of standards when punishing people. If you have an insane amount of money you will never be punished the same as a regular person.

[metisdead]

A post containing a vulgar comment has been removed as well as a reply:

8) You will not post disruptive or inflammatory messages, vulgarities, obscenities or profanities.

[wazzadg44]

Chaebol/hi-so. Same same!!!!

[Tchooptip]

Hope she learned a lesson while in jail.

While in jail? She hasn't seen the jail even from the outside, less so from the inside, this is a society that can be compared with Thailand.

in a country where the economy is dominated by family-run conglomerates known as chaebol that often act above the law.

"She has been locked up since her December arrest." So why did I read that in OP ?

[BigBadGeordie]

Acording to ABBA "Money,Money,Money, it's a rich man's world"