Korea’s Transport Ministry delays decision on Jin Air license revocation

South Korea’s Transport Ministry announced Friday that it will delay its decision on whether to revoke the business license held by Korean Air's budget affiliate Jin Air over the firm’s board appointment of a non-Korean member of the controlling family that violated local transport laws.

The Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport said that it would initiate a formal hearing on the Jin Air case attended by company officials, before reaching a decision on the issue, a process which could take two to three months. 

The ministry will also open an internal investigation to identify and penalize the government officials who permitted and retained the appointment of Korean Air heiress Cho Hyun-min to Jin Air's board, as well as strengthen measures to ensure that local carriers are fully abiding local transport laws. 

For weeks, the ministry had been consulting with legal counsel to decide whether to revoke Jin Air’s license, after discovering that Cho Hyun-min, the youngest daughter of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho, had been a registered board member of Jin Air, despite being a US citizen.

Korean transport law disallows foreign nationals from becoming board directors at Korean airlines for security reasons. However, Cho was a registered director at Jin Air between 2010 and 2016, a violation that could result in a revocation of the carrier’s license and heavy fines.

The revelations had come after Cho Hyun-min sparked a butterfly effect of multiple probes into her family after being accused of throwing water at an ad agency employee during a business meeting. The incident reignited public anger at the behavior of the families controlling Korea’s top conglomerates, and prompted government and prosecutorial probes into the Korean Air Group and its businesses.

The ministry had been scheduled to announce a ruling on the Jin Air case as early as Friday, but it appears that it is taking more time to carefully mull its decision, as it puts the jobs of some 2,000 employees on the line.

On Wednesday, Korean Air’s labor union delivered a statement to the Transport Ministry, asking the government to take accountability for all the damages that would incur if Jin Air’s license is revoked, including mass layoff of the LCC’s employees.

“The Transport Ministry should carefully review the revocation of Jin Air’s business license. It must prioritize protecting the job security and livelihoods of the 2,000 employees at Jin Air,” the union said.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)