Korean Air heiress jailed in 'nut rage' case

In this file picture taken on December 17, 2014, Cho Hyun-Ah, the daughter of Korean Air's chief executive, arrives for questioning at the prosecutors' office in Seoul. - AFP PHOTO / FILES / JUNG YEON-JE

SEOUL: The daughter of Korean Air's chairman was jailed for one year Thursday over a notorious "nut rage" incident that triggered an uproar over the behaviour of South Korea's business dynasties.

The district court in Seoul convicted Cho Hyun-Ah of violating aviation safety law by forcing a taxiing New York-Seoul KAL flight to return to its departure gate on December 5.

Cho, who was the airline's executive vice president at the time, had insisted on expelling the chief purser from the plane after taking exception to being served macadamia nuts in a bag, rather than a bowl.

The 40-year-old had treated the flight "as if it was her own private plane", Justice Oh Sung-Woo said, adding that the case had become the object of international ridicule and "damaged the dignity" of the country.

Cho treated employees "like feudal slaves" and failed to show "the slightest respect" for other people, the judge said.

Cho, clad in a pale green jail suit and with her head bowed so that her hair partially obscured her face, occasionally reached up to wipe away tears as the judge read his ruling.

'Deeply sorry' 

"I am deeply sorry for what I did... I displayed my anger without control," she said in a letter of apology read out by the judge.

"I don't know how I can ever be forgiven," the letter said, adding that her six weeks in trial custody had allowed her to learn "respect for other people" from her fellow detainees.

Despite Cho's expressions of repentance, Oh questioned whether she was truly remorseful for her behaviour.

She was also convicted of assault on the cabin crew.

The chief steward, Park Chang-Jin, had testified that Cho had made him kneel and beg for forgiveness while jabbing him with a service manual.

Prosecutors in the trial had asked for a three-year sentence, but Oh said he had taken into account that no lives had been jeopardised in the incident, as well as the fact that Cho had two young children and that her personal and professional reputation had been shattered.

It was not immediately clear if Cho would choose to appeal.

Dismissing defence arguments to the contrary, the court ruled that an aircraft should be deemed "in flight" from the moment it begins to move and that Cho was therefore guilty of illegally altering the course of a plane.

She was acquitted of obstruction of justice charges related to allegations that she had pressured KAL staff to lie about the incident.

Another defendant, also a KAL executive, was convicted of forcing the flight crew to give false testimony and was jailed for eight months.

Spoilt and arrogant 

The case triggered a huge public backlash.

Cho was seen as emblematic of a generation of spoilt and arrogant offspring of owners of the giant family-run conglomerates, or "chaebols", that dominate the South Korean economy.

Like Cho, many are given senior positions in the family business, sometimes after a token period "learning the trade".

In the past, chaebol owners have appeared to be above the law. Those convicted of gross fraud have either received lenient sentences or been granted pardons after just a short time in jail.

Cho had resigned from all her posts and publicly apologised for her behaviour, which her father and KAL chairman Cho Yang-Ho criticised as a "foolish act". 

- Source: AFP

Power, sex and the Viagra effect

Italy’s former prime minister Berlusconi made no secret of his conquests. — Reuters pic

PARIS, Feb 12 — From Caesar to Napoleon, John F Kennedy to Silvio Berlusconi, Cleopatra to Catherine the Great, history is full of anecdotes about the sexual antics of politicians and world leaders.

Power and a voracious sexual appetite are often intrinsically linked, as highlighted in sometimes graphic detail by the trial of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on charges of “aggravated pimping”.

“Since the dawn of time, there has been something erotic about power,” says psychoanalyst Jean-Pierre Winter.

“It has a Viagra effect.”

Those who set their sights on conquering power often have similar character traits, adds Jean-Pierre Friedmann, another psychoanalyst and author of two books on the issue.

“They sacrificed a lot for their ambition. They are narcissistic and megalomaniac. They think that the world depends on them, that they are in control of others. There is a desire for others to be submissive,” he says.

Strauss-Kahn’s high-flying career and presidential prospects were torpedoed nearly four years ago when he was accused of sexual assault by a New York hotel maid. — Reuters pic

‘As hyper-sexed as men’

Caesar collected sexual adventures, Napoleon could not spend one night alone and tasked his grand chamberlain Talleyrand to look for women to share his bed.

Henry IV of France, nicknamed the “Green Gallant”, had some 70 mistresses.

More recently, JFK was adored as a hugely charismatic US president before his insatiable urge for sexual conquests was revealed.

And former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger famously said: “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.”

Italy’s former prime minister Berlusconi, 78, made no secret of his conquests — a penchant that eventually had him sentenced to seven years in jail and a ban from office when he was found guilty of sleeping with an underage prostitute, though he was acquitted on appeal.

Then there is Strauss-Kahn, whose high-flying career and presidential prospects were torpedoed nearly four years ago when he was accused of sexual assault by a New York hotel maid, a case later settled in a civil suit.

The 65-year-old is now in the dock in the northern French city of Lille, accused of being involved in a vice ring after he had sex with prostitutes at orgies, although he denies knowing the women were paid.

And it’s not just men, says Friedmann. Catherine the Great of Russia and other powerful women were also known to have lots of lovers — “amazons as hyper-sexed as men.”

In November 2012, former French health minister Roselyne Bachelot acknowledged in a radio interview that “sex is extremely important and influences politics a lot”.

President John F. Kennedy’s alleged sexual encounters with numerous women have been widely discussed and documented. — Reute

‘We are animals’

For Friedmann, there is a primal link between sex and power.

“The males used to fight to know who the strongest was and the woman was attracted to the winner,” he says. “We are animals.”

He says that power and sex depend on the same hormones — endorphins, the so-called happy hormones secreted after an intense workout, be it at the gym or in bed.

Francois Kraus of polling group Ifop says that “people who have the most extramarital partners are over-represented in higher (social) categories.”

“Power, whatever the type of power, arouses desire in others,” says Winter.

“It’s true in companies, it’s true in the entertainment world — the director attracts actresses — and it’s even truer in politics.”

However those in power do not all necessarily have an unbridled sex drive.

Charles de Gaulle, France’s most famous post-war president, had eyes only for his wife Yvonne.

But are those who cannot refrain from conquering woman upon woman addicted?

No, says Winter.

“It’s a real neurosis, an inability to hold back,” he says.

“But the difference with an addiction is that when they are not in the presence of women, they do not suffer withdrawal symptoms like those who are dependent on alcohol.” — AFP

-Source: The Malay Mail