Cho was given a suspended sentence on appeal and had to resign from the airline.

Cho assaulted Park Chang-jin on a plane at JFK International Airport in New York in December of 2014 after she was served macadamia nuts in a bag instead of in a dish, and then ordered him to disembark, forcing the plane to return to the gate.

The purser who was abused and booted off the plane by Korean Air heiress Cho Hyun-ah in the notorious "nut rage" scandal has been awarded W20 million in compensation.

Park complained of post-traumatic stress, adjustment problems and insomnia, and was found to be eligible for compensation for an industrial accident in July 2015 . He returned to his job in May 2016 but was demoted.

That prompted him to file a W100 million compensation suit against the family-run airline late last year, arguing that it forced him to lie in the investigation of the incident and the demotion was unfair (US$1=W1,128).

He also sued Cho separately for W200 million in compensation for his pain and suffering.

The Seoul Western District Court accepted that he was forced to lie and ordered Korean Air to pay him W20 million. But it did not accept that he was unfairly demoted.

The court also ruled that Park is entitled to W30 million from Cho but did not order her to pay since she already deposited W100 million with the court back in 2015 to reduce her sentence. Park can take out the deposit regardless of the outcome of the trial if he is willing to settle.

Korean Air claims it demoted Park because he scored low on a mandatory English proficiency test it administered the same year as the scandal.

