| Cho Hyun-min / Yonhap |
By Jung Min-ho
Cho Hyun-min, 35, the sister of Cho Hyun-ah (Heather Cho), the Korean Air heiress who made headlines around the world for the 2014 "nut rage" incident, has been caught up in her own rage controversy.
Cho Hyun-min is accused of throwing a cup of water into the face of the company's advertising agent at a recent meeting.
According to local media outlets Thursday, Cho, a Korean Air executive, was dissatisfied with the agent's performance for its new advertisement, so she "yelled and threw a cup of water at the agent."
Korean Air denied the accusation. "It is true that she yelled and threw a cup to the floor," a Korean Air official told The Korea Times. "But she did not throw the cup at the agent. After a while, she apologized to the person and others who attended the meeting."
If the accusation is true, she could be prosecuted for assault.
The agency has so far kept quiet on the issue.
After the issue came to the fore, Cho issued an apology.
"I apologize for my foolish behavior," she wrote on Facebook. "It is my fault that I failed to control my emotions."
Two weeks ago, shareholders of KAL Hotel Network, a Korean Air subsidiary, approved Cho Hyun-ah's comeback as its president at the company's annual meeting.
The elder Cho, 44, was indicted three years ago on charges of violating aviation security and business laws after forcing a plane to return to its gate during a row over how nuts were served. A lower court sentenced her to a year in prison. But she was freed after five months when an appeals court cleared her of hampering an air route ― the most serious charge.