NEW YORK TIMES: …The executive, Cho Hyun-ah, the eldest child of Korean Air’s chairman, Cho Yang-ho, was fired from her position as a vice president of the airline and put behind bars last month after her actions on Dec. 5 triggered a national uproar and turned her family and Korean Air into objects of international ridicule.
Her fall from grace was the latest blow to South Korea’s powerful family-controlled business empires, known as chaebol, which have been plagued by corruption scandals, tax evasion charges and sibling feuds over assets. Over the decades since the Korean War, a handful of chaebol families have built conglomerates like Samsung and Hyundai that dominate the South Korean economy. But they have also developed a reputation for running their corporate empires like military dictators and for maintaining collusive ties with regulators. Critics say the “owner” families have brooked no challenge or contradiction and have surrounded themselves with kowtowing managers.
Indicted along with Ms. Cho on Wednesday was a Korean Air executive, identified by the family name Yeo, who was accused of coercing Korean Air officials to delete an email on what happened on Dec. 5 and to lie to government investigators to protect Ms. Cho. Prosecutors also indicted a Transport Ministry official on charges of illegally briefing Mr. Yeo on the confidential details of the official inquiry… (more)
