[Herald Interview]



Park Chang-jin, a Korean Air employee of 22 years, revealed in 2014 what has come to be known as the “nut rage” incident.



He said that Cho Hyun-ah, 42, then-Korean Air senior vice president, forced him, then a cabin crew chief, and a junior attendant who served nuts to her in an unopened package, to apologize on their knees.



The Korean Air chairman’s daughter used abusive language and jabbed Park several times with a service manual. Cho even ordered the taxiing aircraft to return to the gate at Kennedy International Airport in New York so that Park could disembark from the plane.



Cho was convicted and jailed by a local court for violating aviation laws, but was released after receiving a suspended sentence from the Supreme Court. She eventually returned as president of the KAL Hotel Network, a hotel business owned by Korean Air.





(Video shot and produced by Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea Herald)



Meanwhile, Park, 47, was demoted to a flight attendant when he returned to work after treatment for psychological trauma. Last year, he sued the company, accusing it of illegally demoting and ostracizing him. He has also filed a case against Cho and Korean Air, claiming damages for mental anguish.



After four years, little appears to have changed at Korean Air.





On Friday, hundreds of Korean Air pilots, cabin crew and ground workers gathered in central Seoul chanting “Cho family must step down!”



The candlelight vigil was triggered by Cho Hyun-min, the younger sister of Cho Hyun-ah, who stepped down from a senior executive position at the company after revelations that she allegedly threw a cup of water at the face of an advertising agency employee during a business meeting in March.



Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho apologized for what he called the “immature behavior” of his two daughters and said they would both immediately resign from their posts.



At the rally was Park, who continues to hold a separate one-man protest against his company, calling for a thorough investigation into the two sisters and their family.



The Korea Herald interviewed Park a few hours ahead of Friday‘s rally.







Korean Air employee Park Chang-jin (Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea Herald)