Page 2 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
ASIA / PACIFIC
January 5, 2015
New Year’s card sheep completes knitting scarf
TOKYO (AP) — When millions of Japanese received their customary New
Year’s greeting cards this month, the sheep on the postage stamps had finished
knitting the scarf it began 12 years ago. Tradition in Japan calls for people to
send post cards — often hundreds of them — to
friends, colleagues, and relatives, decked with
pine trees, cranes, and other symbols of good luck
to welcome the new year — but also showing the
animal of the year, as set by the Asian zodiac.
Although most stores and businesses were closed
January 1, mail workers were hard at work mak-
ing sure the cards were delivered. The sheep is
the animal for 2015, heralding a year of harmony (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
as well as possibly meekness, according to astrological storytelling. In 2003, the
stamp on the cards issued by the post office had as its design a fluffy sheep busily
knitting a scarf. This year, it’s wearing the scarf, and holding the knitting
needles, perhaps a little proudly. It is not clear what it plans to knit for 2027.
FLYING INTO A RAGE. Cho Hyun-ah, center, who was head of cabin service at Korean Air and the oldest child
of Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho, speaks to the media upon her arrival for questioning at the Aviation and Railway Acci-
dent Investigation Board office of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport in Seoul, South Korea. Nut rage imploded
the career of the Korean Air Lines executive and embarrassed her family and country. Now South Korean retailers are
experiencing the unexpected upside: a boom in sales of macadamias. The flavorful macadamia nut was unfamiliar to many
South Koreans until Cho ordered a flight attendant off a December 5 flight from New York City after she was served them
in a bag, instead of on a plate. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
Korean Air to be sanctioned
for nut rage cover-up
By Youkyung Lee
AirAsia Zest plane overshoots Philippine runway
AP Business Writer
KALIBO, Philippines (AP) — An AirAsia Zest plane carrying 159 people
overshot the runway and got stuck in a muddy field December 30 at an
international airport in the central Philippines after flying from Manila in
windy weather, officials said. There were no reports of injuries. Crew members
launched emergency slides to help passengers disembark from the Airbus
A320-200 after it skidded off the runway in the resort town of Kalibo in Aklan
province before nightfall, Giovanni Hontomin, who is in charge of AirAsia Zest’s
operations, said by phone. Initial reports indicated that three of the plane’s tires
got stuck in the mud, said Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesman
Eric Apolonio. A tropical storm set off landslides and flash floods in the southern
and central Philippines, leaving at least 31 people dead and seven missing,
officials said. Kalibo town, 217 miles south of Manila, is a busy gateway to the
Boracay beach resort, a popular tourist destination. The accident came after an
AirAsia plane crashed into the Java Sea December 28 during a flight from
Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people on board. Bloated bodies and debris
were discovered floating in Indonesian waters December 30. It also came two
days after another incident involving an AirAsia Zest plane, when a jet operated
by the carrier developed a tire problem in the central Philippine city of
Tagbilaran while its 184 passengers and crew were boarding, prompting the
airline to cancel the flight to Manila, officials said. The Airbus A320 aircraft’s
tire was later fixed. No reason was given for the problem. Budget carrier AirAsia
Zest is partly owned by AirAsia Philippines.
EOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s
transport ministry says Korean Air
Lines Co. faces sanctions for pressuring
employees to lie during a government probe
into the nut rage fiasco that highlighted the
tyrannical behavior of a top Korean business
family.
The ministry said it will also evaluate if the
airline’s corporate culture poses safety risks
after its chairman’s daughter, Cho Hyun-ah,
overruled the captain of a flight to force the
plane back to the gate.
Cho, who was head of cabin service at
Korean Air, ordered a senior flight attendant
off a December 5 flight after she was served
macadamia nuts in a bag, instead of on a plate,
in what she thought was a breach of service
protocol in first class.
Transport ministry director Lee Gwang-hee
said Korean Air could face 21 days of flight
suspensions or a $1.3 million fine for violating
aviation law. The punishment will be
determined by a separate committee that
could decide to increase or lessen it.
Cho family members have a direct 10
percent stake in Korean Air, which is part of
the family’s Hanjin conglomerate.
Park Chang-jin, the crew member who had
to disembark from the plane, told South
Korea’s KBS television network that Cho had
shamed and insulted crew members. A
first-class passenger told Yonhap News
Agency that Cho yelled at flight attendants
who kneeled before her, pushed one flight
attendant’s shoulder, and threw an object at
the cabin wall.
The incident now dubbed “nut rage” hogged
headlines around the world and enraged the
Three Chinese police arrested in female worker’s death
BEIJING (AP) — State media say three Chinese police have been arrested in
the beating death of a female construction worker who was attempting to receive
her wages. The official Xinhua News Agency said one officer was accused of
causing the death of the 47-year-old worker, Zhou Xiuyun. Two others were
arrested for allegedly abusing their power. Xinhua said 10 workers were stopped
by guards and police December 13 when they attempted to enter the
construction site in northern Shanxi province to be paid. It said a brawl ensued
in which police also broke Zhou’s husband’s ribs. A video of Zhou’s struggle with
police spread widely in China, with one segment showing a police officer
appearing to stand on her hair as she lay unconscious on the ground.
Third blogger detained in Vietnam in a month
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnamese police detained a third blogger in a
month in the latest crackdown on dissent in the communist country. Blogger
Nguyen Dinh Ngoc, 48, was taken into custody and his house was searched in
the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City late last month. The Ministry
of Public Security said in a statement that police were investigating and will
deal with Ngoc in accordance with the law, but did not elaborate. Over the past
month, police in Ho Chi Minh City detained two other bloggers for alleged anti-
government postings. International human-rights groups and some western
governments, including the U.S., have criticized Vietnam for arresting people
for peacefully expressing their views. Hanoi says only lawbreakers are jailed.
China punishes hospital for operating room photos
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese health authorities put a hospital president on
probation and fired three others following public outrage over photos posted
online of smiling medical staff posing with patients during surgery. The photos
were taken in August at Fengcheng Hospital in the north-central city of Xi’an
and leaked on social media. Online commentators criticized medical staff for
being unprofessional and disrespectful of patients, while others defended the
photos, saying they were intended to be private and were taken at the end of
surgical procedures. The Xi’an Bureau of Public Health, which handed out the
punishment, said in a statement that the staff took the photos to memorialize
the operating room, which was to be relocated. Nevertheless, the bureau said it
requested everyone involved in the photo scandal to offer self-critiques. The
bureau also put the hospital president on probation for one year and fired a
deputy president, the head nurse, and the person in charge of anesthetics.
Tensions have run high between health workers and patients in China. Patients
often complain about poor medical services and high costs, especially the need to
bribe doctors and nurses in exchange for competent services. Chinese health
workers say they are overworked and underpaid.
S
South Korean public, leading to Cho’s removal
from all executive roles at the airline.
The 40-year-old and her father apologized,
but a new furor has erupted over Korean Air’s
attempt to foil government investigators.
Local media reports also exposed how Korean
Air employees were treated like servants of the
Cho family.
“If the incident itself were not beastly
enough, Korean Air’s response has been
abominable,” Korea Herald said in an
editorial. “In attempts that are akin to feudal
servants trying to protect their lord’s
daughter, Korean Air staff rallied to the rescue
of Korean Air CEO Cho Yang-ho’s daughter.”
Park, the crew member, was visited by
Korean Air Lines officials who pressured him
to give a sanitized version of events to investi-
gators.
The airline will be punished because Cho
and Park lied during the probe and because
the captain was negligent in his duties,
according to the ministry.
However, the captain won’t face any
sanction as he was powerless to refuse a
member of the family that controls the airline,
said Lee, the transport official.
The ministry’s statement indicated other
airline employees also faced pressure to lie to
the investigators. It did not identify them.
Its investigation found Cho used abusive
language with the flight attendants but could
not ascertain if she used violence. It will file a
complaint against Cho with prosecutors later
in the day.
Prosecutors earlier launched a separate
investigation into the Korean Air case after
receiving a complaint from a civic group.
Prosecutors summoned Cho to be questioned,
Continued on page 7
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1.9891
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63.295
12545
27073
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21392