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Korean Air senior vice president Cho Hyun-min is shown returning to South Korea at Incheon Airport on Apr. 15. (taken from MBC)
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Authorities have also asked for a travel ban on the Korean Air senior vice president
South Korean police have officially launched an investigation into (Emily) Cho Hyun-min, 35, a senior vice president at Korean Air, who is being criticized for high-handed behavior, including a recent incident in which she flung water at the employee of an advertising agency. The police have asked for a travel ban to be placed on Cho. On Apr. 17, the Gangseo District Police Department in Seoul announced that it had investigating Cho on the charge of assault and that it had upgraded an informal probe into a formal criminal investigation. The police said that after questioning people who attended the meeting, they had secured testimony that Cho had thrown water at people who were present. If she threw the water directly at them, she could face the charge of assault. Cho claims that she threw the cup of water at the floor. “We applied for a travel ban on Cho Hyun-min because of her frequent overseas business trips. In addition to the ‘water rage,’ we’re also planning to look into allegations about abusive language in the office,” said a spokesperson for the police. During a meeting with an advertising agency that handles advertisements for Korean Air at the airline’s headquarters in the Gangseo District of Seoul last month, Cho reportedly splashed water in the face of an employee at the advertising agency and threw a cup at the employee, who had failed to give a satisfactory response to Cho’s question. There are also allegations that Cho often screams at people and insults them in the office. Amid a string of allegations about Cho’s imperious behavior, the police launched an informal probe to confirm the facts on Apr. 13. Separate investigations were combined when the prosecutors transferred a complain about Cho that had been submitted to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office to the Gangseo District Police Department. “Cho Hyun-min has been suspended from her duties and placed on standby for assignment from headquarters. We are planning to take the appropriate measures after hearing the results of the police investigation,” Korean Air said in a statement on Apr. 16. By Ko Han-sol, staff reporter Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
