Disgraced father and chairman of Hanjin Group Cho Yang-ho apologized for his second scandalous daughter and stripped business titles of his trouble-making daughters as authorities raided his home and office upon tips that his family had habitually used Korean Air fleet to smuggle luxury goods from overseas.

“I sincerely apologize to the public and Korean Air employees for causing concerns,” said Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho in a statement on Sunday. “I would have Korean Air senior vice president Cho Hyun-min and KAL Hotel Network president Cho Hyun-ah immediately step down from all posts.”

It is the second time he has bowed his head on behalf of his shameful daughters.

The removal of the “raging” sisters improved investors sentiment as shares of Hanjin units tumbled amid public outcry over the excesses of the family-run transportation conglomerate.

Korean Air shares closed Monday 2.7 percent higher at 34,250 won, and those of Jin Air up 0.65 percent at 30,750 won.

Cho Hyun-min, the youngest daughter of the chief of Hanjin Group, is a marketing director and vice president of the group’s budget carrier Jin Air and chief executive of Hanjin Travel Service and KAL Hotel Network. She has become the center of controversy after she was exposed to have thrown water onto the face of an agency manager in a fit of anger. The “water cup rage” incident led to a series of accounts of her overbearing and snobbish behaviors towards employees and others.

Her older sister Cho Hyun-ah caused “nut rage” incident in 2014 when she forced a plane to return to the gate because she was unhappy with the way her nuts were served. She had disgracefully resigned from the post of Korean Air vice president after the incident but recently returned to the management as chief of KAL Hotel Network.

The chief of Hanjin Group also said that he would name Seok Tae-soo, CEO of Hanjin KAL, as vice chairman of Korean Air to meet the public demand to have professional managers from outside, not from the owner family, to manage the Korean flag carrier.

“I would reinforce the role of the board of directors in the management and establish a compliance committee with outside members to prevent any recurrences of such incident,” he said.

The owner family also came scrutiny upon suspicion that they frequently smuggled luxury goods to avoid taxes. The Korea Customs Service raided the headquarters of Korean Air and houses of the family owners to look into the allegations. It was for the first time for the nation’s customs authority to raid homes of chaebol families.

By Moon Ji-woong and Choi Mira

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]