Korean Air chief indicted on embezzlement, other charges: prosecutors

Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho was indicted on Monday on charges including embezzlement and breach of trust, South Korean prosecutors said, adding to a string of woes at the country’s biggest airline group. Cho is the latest head of a big business group, or chaebol, to face legal challenges in South Korea since President Moon Jae-in took office in 2017 with a pledge to curb the excessive power of family-owned conglomerates and improve their governance. A Seoul prosecutors’ office on Monday said Cho took 19.6b won ($17m) commission from 2003 through 2018 by setting up a trading company to broker aircraft equipment and in-flight duty-free goods purchase deals for Korean Air, causing the same amount of loss to the airline. Korean Air declined to comment and did not make Cho available for comment. Also on Monday, Emily Cho, the chairman’s youngest daughter, was cleared of all charges related to her allegedly throwing a drink at two business meeting attendees in April, because the attendees did not want to press charges, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ office said.<br/>