If Korean Chaebol were scandalous before Trump-Kim summit …

Aside from playing to the gallery with Korean Air, President Moon Jae-in has done little to confront corruption in the family run enterprises. And renewed cooperation with North Korea will offer more shade for shady deals

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A pilot for Korean Air at a protest against the family that owns the airline. Photo: EPA

Published: 11:30am, 16 Jun 2018Updated: 11:40am, 16 Jun 2018

As the Korean Air scandal burns through almost every member of the company’s controlling family, the prospect of reforming South Korea’s chaebol – large, family-owned business conglomerates – looks less promising than ever, particularly after the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un in Singapore.

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

The Korea Immigration Service this week subjected Lee Myung-hee, the wife of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho, to 13 hours of questioning over allegations she illegally hired Filipino housekeepers. Investigators are also looking into whether her son, Cho Won-tae, was unfairly admitted to Inha University 20 years ago. The family sisters, Emily and Heather Cho, are accused of having items such as chocolates and other snacks shipped to them without paying customs duties.

Cho Hyun-ah (Heather Cho), Korean Air Lines' head of cabin service and the eldest child of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho. Photo: AP

The family first drew public outrage with the “nut rage” incident in December 2014, when Heather Cho forced an employee to grovel at her feet for serving her macadamia nuts in a bag instead of on a plate. The family again made headlines when Emily Cho was accused of throwing a drink at an advertising official’s face during a meeting last March.

In May, company employees held a candlelight vigil at Gwanghwamun Square, where millions of Koreans did the same in late 2016 to demand the removal of former President Park Geun-hye for abuse of power. The employees, who wore black clothing and Guy Fawkes masks, cited the Cho family’s abuses of power and called for Cho Yang-ho’s removal. But for now, the family’s greatest offence seems to have been offending sensibility.

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