My Korean Conspiracy theory
I have been following some of the events regarding Korean Air and VP Heather Cho (aka the Nut Rage Incident). My observations lead me to believe that the headlines are merely the tip of the iceberg. The headlines address the following:
First, Korean Air VP Heather Cho (Cho Hyun Ah) verbally abuses Head purses Park (name is important) while plane is on a tarmac, for improper performance. Cho orders pilot to turn plane around and makes Park exit. Cho is accused of verbally abusing head purser and generally making a scene. Forcing him to kneel, etc. No one was injured, in my humble opinion, it was really blown out of proportion. It just happened to happen to a well known heiress. The headlines convicted them before the actual court date.
I'm going to stop there to point out that the flight attendant was in the wrong and was not following correct procedures. When asked for his employee manual, he did not have one either. Cho was furious and I'm not saying her behavior was right either. However, I will say that with all of the problems in the world with hijackings and aviation in the past 15 years, I can't really blame her for not wanting someone who wasn't following procedures on her flight. It was also her job to oversee such things specificly and I can see her even perceiving his actions as blatant disrespect towards her..keep that last part in mind..
Next comes public outrage. They say that this was sparked over the way that the elite (Chaebol, family business empires, business conglomerate) families in power treat the masses that are employed by them. Not surprising, it echoed the usual, rabid 'eat the rich' mentallity. The public very much wanted her to 'pay', it was obvious that she not only would but was also to become a scapegoat for these things.
Heather Cho and another from Korean Air were immediately arrested for tampering and trying to cover up the incident. Cho was sentenced, not long afterwards, to a year in jail. Same stuff every Corporation in the states would do, to say the least but they were singled out and jailed for it.
Before she was jailed, her father had already made her apoligize for her behavior and personally took responsibility for not 'raising her right'. This seemed to have no effect on the public outcry.
Cho made an appeal immediately afterwards, under the grounds that the plane had not lifted, so therefor she was not in violation of aviation laws, since the plane was not 'in the air'.
Park was offered a large sum as compensation after she was sentenced, mind you she didn't have to do this but Park refused the compensation. He stated it would be dishonorable to accept and wished to continue working with Korean Air.
Stay with me..
Immediately after the trial came headlines for what is nicknamed Cho Hyun Ah Laws. Which in theory are to be enforced on high ranking family business owners in an effort to keep them from 'abusing their power'.
Now something I've noticed about these headlines is that a lot of them seemed to be written by people with the last name of Park. I believe even at least one from the BBC (shame on you) had been written by someone with the last name of Park. Which by the way, is not only the name of the 'victim' in the case but also the current Korean President. Since I have voiced this opinion publicly, I have seen a lot more 'unsigned' articles on this case, meaning that the author did not sign their name on the article.
EDIT 2 : Just as a reference so you don't think I'm completely full of shit, here a just a few but they are many and there are many more, all condemning her:
article by By Madison Park and Paula Hancocks
http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/12/world/asia/korean-air-nut-rage-verdict/
Judy Kwon and Madison Park
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/30/world/asia/korean-air-nuts-scandal/
by ju-min park
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/World/2015/01/30/Korean-Air-chief-says-he-scolded-daughter-over-nut-rage/
Sam Kim and Juwon Park
After the first 2 or 3 I thought that it may have been a coincidence but now I'm convinced that it is not..
So for quite some time now, I've been suspecting that this has been a set-up from the beginning. I suspect the Parks have had the whole thing planned the whole time. I don't believe it's about even pleasing the public as much as it is about government control and I see the Cho's as the underdogs. I believe that the masses are wrong and their anger is a little misdirected in this case.
(EDIT 1: If my conspiracy theory is correct, which would amount to the equivalent of corporate sabotage and espionage to say the least, there is something else I was wondering that got left out in the original. It was mentioned that Heather Cho had a drink on the plane prior to 'going nuts'. Given the description of her at the trial by the steward as 'acting like a rabid beast', Isn't it possible that one of the flight stewards drugged her? I think that would make a whole lot of sense, sadly. As any bartender would know, a carbonated beverage would allow a substance to hit her system faster than normal. Also something to consider. )
I have to wonder, shouldn't that law go both ways? Isn't it more important to have a law like that within the government, than in a family business conglomerate? I would think so.
As everyone knows, the media is often merely a tool to achieve influence and spread propaganda.So I have to ask, what's the real deal here? Does the korean government not trust the Korean Corporations? Do they fear them and the loyalty people have to them? Is this going to be a trend now? Something to think about, isn't it?
If you are from the states and like myself, tend to work blue collar for any length of time, then you may have the same opinion I do. First of all, a company apoligizing even non-publically, is rather unheard of. Compensation of this kind is also unheard of. There are many cases here in the US where the employer and the courts do not want to even pay medical expenses for 'real' injuries, injuries that will be sustained by an employee for the rest of their life, much less compensation. It can go on for years until an employee gets anything at all.
That's my rant for now, I may add more later. Cho Yang Ho doesn't sound like a bad guy to me, hehe. I believe if that's the worst that they can get on KA, then good for KA.
Thanks for reading..
-J