hankyoreh

Members of the Korean Air Employees’ Alliance gather on the steps of the Sejong Performing Arts Center in Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square on May 4 to protest the abusive behavior and language of Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Cho Yang-ho and his family

“Let’s save Korean Air!”

Employees who are fed up with the habitual high-handed and abusive behavior by the family of Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho have begun to strike back. At 7 pm on May 4, the Korean Air Employees’ Alliance – a voluntary group of current and former employees at the airline – met on the steps next to the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in the Jongno District of Seoul for a candlelit rally calling for an end to such abusive behavior and for the resignation of company executives and the members of the Cho family.

The Korean Air employees were wearing masks and bandanas, some in black Korean Air uniforms and others in blue workman’s outfits. Holding candles, they chanted the lyrics to a children’s song about airplanes, denounced the abusive behavior of the Cho family and called for their punishment.

There were about 500 protesters on the plaza (the police estimated there were 350 current and former employees of Korean Air and 150 others) wearing Guy Fawkes masks from the film “V for Vendetta” to signify their resistance to the abuse of the Cho family. The protesters shouted slogans such as “We won’t put up with the Cho family’s abusive language” and “Out with Cho Yang-ho, prince of abuse; lock up Lee Myeong-hui [the wife of Cho Yang-ho] for her abuse and assaults.”

The emcee at the event was Park Chang-jin, a former purser at Korean Air who was the victim of the “nut rage” incident in 2014. An individual by the pseudonym “Lisa” who created the Korean Air Employees’ Alliance group chatroom and who organized the protest was also in attendance but remained out of sight. The protesters thanked Lisa and promised to maintain their support until the end.

The Korean Air employees who took the stage in their masks were calling for the “normalization of the company.”

“The employees have done their best for the image of Korean Air, but the executives have ruined that image,” said a flight attendant in a sky blue uniform who said that she had “worked on the same team as Park Chang-jin about 10 years ago.”

“We will keep fighting until Korean Air once again becomes an airline we can be proud of,” the flight attendant said.

“This series of events is not a crisis for Korean Air; it’s a crisis for the controlling family. I want to take this opportunity to make Korean Air a better company by correcting the bad behavior of the controlling family,” said “A,” who has been a Korean Air pilot for 14 years and attended the protest holding an LED candle.

“The majority of employees at Korean Air think the same thing. They all wanted to participate in this candlelit rally,” A said.

Family members of Korean Air employees and like-minded people also attended the rally to show their support. “B” said that one of her family members is an employee at Korean Air: “When my family member said he was having a hard time at work, I would tell them he just had to deal with it and keep going to work. I had no idea he was suffering that kind of abuse at the company. I hope our small efforts can coalesce to make Korean Air a place we can respect and feel proud of.”

A member of Korean Air’s Morning Calm Club shared a letter they had written with company employees. “I hope this will be an opportunity to properly address the legitimate grievances of Korean Air employees,” the letter said.

Around 7 pm, the steps next to the Sejong Performing Arts Center had been about half full, but as darkness fell, the space filled up with latecomers from Korean Air and with supportive people. The sidewalk nearby also became crowded as passersby stopped to watch. The Korean Air Employees’ Alliance said it would keep holding demonstrations.

many of whom are in key executive positions. (Kang Chang-kwang