Korean Air Lines chairman Cho Yang-ho arrives at a court in Seoul, South Korea in this file photo. Cho, who is currently on trial for corruption, failed to secure a required two-thirds majority, becoming the first controlling shareholder of a South Korean conglomerate to be forced off the board. — Reuters photo
SEOUL: The head of South Korea’s flag carrier Korean Air – whose family have been embroiled in multiple scandals including one involving a ‘nut rage’ tantrum – lost his board seat after shareholders voted against extending his term as director, the airline said Wednesday.
Cho Yang-ho, who is currently on trial for corruption, failed to secure a required two-thirds majority, becoming the first controlling shareholder of a South Korean conglomerate to be forced off the board.
The super-wealthy owners of chaebols – the sprawling conglomerates that dominate the world’s 11th-largest economy – are no strangers to controversy, but a string of high-profile scandals have vaulted the Cho family to notoriety in South Korea, even sparking protests by their employees.
The 70-year-old tycoon is the chairman of the Hanjin Group, which used to own the now-bankrupt Hanjin Shipping line.
Cho controls around 30 per cent of Korean Air through its parent company Hanjin Kal.
But the National Pension Service, the airline’s second-biggest shareholder, had said Tuesday it will oppose Cho’s re-election, citing his records of “undermining corporate value and infringing upon shareholder rights”.
“It is correct that he has lost his seat as the director of the board,” a Korean Air spokeswoman told AFP.
The vote had put “slight brakes” on Cho’s management of the airliner, she said, but stressed that he still had control over the company. — AFP