Top S. Korean court spares 'nut rage' heiress jail

South Korea’s top court kept a Korean Air heiress out of prison yesterday in the final verdict on the ‘nut rage’ incident that triggered national uproar in 2014.

Cho Hyun-ah, a daughter of Korean Air chief Cho Yang-ho and then the company’s vice president, became infuriated when a flight attendant served her some nuts in a bag rather than in a bowl.

She lambasted the chief steward over the behaviour of his cabin crew and ordered the Seoul-bound flight, which had just left the gate in New York, to turn back so he could be ejected.

The incident caused fury at home and made global headlines, eventually prompting Seoul prosecutors to charge her with offences including violating aviation security and business practices laws.Cho was initially convicted on most counts and sentenced to a year in jail, but she was freed after the appeals court cleared her of hampering an air route – the most serious charge – as the aircraft was still on the ground.

It maintained the more minor convictions, including interfering with business practices, but reduced her penalty to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years.

The Supreme Court upheld that ruling yesterday.

Cho, who resigned from her position soon after the incident, spent a total of five months in jail.