April 24, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s corporate watchdog is investigating unfair business practices at Korean Air, whose founding family members are under fire for abusing employees and contractors, industry sources said on April 24.

The Fair Trade Commission has reportedly conducted an on-site probe into the airline’s in-flight duty free business to look into whether founding family members have reaped unfair profits.

In 2016, the FTC imposed a fine of 1.43 billion won (US$1.20 million) on Korean Air for similar unfair practices involving two of its affiliates.

The FTC’s probe is the latest move directed at the country’s leading air carrier.

The customs office on April 23 carried out a search of Korean Air’s headquarters over suspicions that the family members of Chairman Cho Yang-ho sneaked luxury goods into Korea without paying duties.

The move came a day after Cho Yang-ho offered a public apology over the mounting public outrage over his daughter, Cho Hyun-min, who is accused of having thrown water in the face of an ad agency manager during a meeting last month.

She is the younger sister of Cho Hyun-ah, who gained global notoriety for the “nut rage” incident in 2014. She forced a plane back to the boarding gate at New York‘s John F. Kennedy International Airport because she was upset with the way her nuts were served -- in an unopened bag instead of on a plate.

On April 22, the chairman removed his two daughters from all their posts at the airline and its affiliates.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldccorp.com)