Cho Yang-ho, the chairman of Korean Air has died on Monday due to an unspecified illness. He passed away at 70 in Los Angeles, United States.
According to CNN, at the time of his passing, Cho is on trial for corruption charges. Just two weeks prior to his death, he was also removed from the Korean Air's board after the shareholders voted for his elimination.
While Cho Yang-ho is still on trial for corruption, he was already indicted on many other offenses such as tax evasion and embezzlement. Apparently, the court in Seoul, South Korea will have no choice but to drop all his criminal cases now.
The Korean Air chairman still retained his post in the company even after being ousted from its board. Amid his ongoing trials for many cases, Cho still takes part in the management of the airline as he wishes to do so.
The chairman of South Korea's flag carrier is controversial not just because of the cases he faced but his family's scandals made him the talk of the town as well. In particular, he very famous as the father of the 'nut rage' woman Cho Hyun-ah who threw tantrum while aboard the Korean Air in 2014.
The eldest daughter of Cho Yang-ho was imprisoned for five months after being convicted of violating aviation safety, abuse of power and coercion in 2015. Her charges stemmed from the incident where she ordered the plane she was riding in to return to the gates after getting mad over the macadamia nuts that was served to her in a bag instead of a plate.
Hyun-ah's younger sister Cho Hyun-min was also involved in a scandal after throwing a drink to an agency's manager's face with whom she was having a business meeting with. This incident happened just last year.
Moreover, it seems that Cho Yang-ho's family is an abuser after his wife Lee Myung-hee was also inquest by the police many times for assault allegations on her employees. The accusations ranged from cursing, slapping, kicking and throwing a pair of scissors to a person.
At any rate, US News reported that Cho Yang-ho was being treated at a hospital in Los Angeles when he passed away. He was receiving treatment for a lung affliction but the type of his illness was never mentioned.
It was noted that he was in the hospital since late last year and his condition worsened after the shareholders kicked him out from the board. An official who wants to remain anonymous relayed that the Korean Air chairman was so stressed out and shocked and this led to the rapid decline of his health.
Meanwhile, following Cho Yang-ho's death, it was revealed that Hanjin KAL's shares soared. It demonstrated a 24 percent increase on Monday morning after the announcement of his passing. The company affiliates' also saw their shares rose dramatically. Hanjin Group is owned by Cho Yang-ho's family and it is Korean Air's parent company.
"The death appears to have helped erase the so-called CEO risks, which have plagued Hanjin group firms, as a series of controversies and misconducts by the owner family members have hurt corporate values," Yonhap News via The Straits Times quoted an analyst as saying.
