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| Cho Hyun-min, daughter of Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho. Yonhap |
By Kim Hyun-bin
A series of tantrums from Korean Air scions are haunting the nation's largest air carrier.
The latest anger incident took place last month, with the airline's marketing executive Cho Hyun-min, the second daughter of Korean Air CEO Cho Yang-ho, allegedly throwing water in the face of an advertising company employee
Police said Friday they were investigating the allegation, while the airline lost more than $200 million (214 billion won) from its market capitalization in a day.
Some angry citizens have filed an online petition calling for Cheong Wa Dae to punish Cho and strip the airline of its flag-carrier status. As of 3 p.m., more than 16,000 people had signed the petition.
Worse, if the negative sentiment continues, the airline is unlikely to meet its goal of an annual operating profit topping 1 trillion won ($9.7 billion) for 2018.
Police said they were checking if there were sufficient grounds for a formal investigation.
If the accusations are true, Cho could be charged with assault.
According to the Korea Exchange, Korean Air's market capitalization fell by 222.8 billion won to 3.18 trillion won, Thursday.
Its share price fell 6.55 percent, closing at 33,550 won. This is the largest drop in 20 months since the stock dropped 7.43 percent, Aug. 23, 2016.
As a result, outraged investors are demanding strong punishment for Cho.
To make Korean Air's situation worse, more allegations of Cho's abuse of power have been emerging from the advertising industry.
According to media reports, Cho threw a pen against a table and pieces of the pen hit a marketing firm employee.
"Due to such misbehavior from Korean Air, many advertising firms have been reluctant to handle its projects," said a PR agency official.
Amid growing criticism, Cho apologized on Facebook, saying she had been "foolish and reckless."
Cho has now gone on leave overseas.
Such family misbehavior is not new to Korean Air.
In 2014, Cho Hyun-ah, the eldest daughter, was indicted for violating aviation security and business laws after the "nut rage" case, in which she ordered her flight back to a gate in New York because she was upset about the way her nuts were served on the plane.
Cho was sentenced to one year in prison, but was freed after five months after an appeals court cleared her of interfering with an air route.
