During the interview, Park asserted, "Those who weren't there wouldn't know about the insults and humiliation [I received]." According to Park, when a stewardess offered Cho macadamia nuts during a flight from New York to Seoul, Cho began scolding the stewardess. Park came to the stewardess's side to help her, but he was unable to calm an infuriated Cho.
Park explained, "The stewardess and I were on our knees while [Cho] insulted us and kept shaking her finger at us, even pushing us towards the cockpit entrance." According to Park, Cho verbally abused them both and even jabbed the back of Park's hand to the point that it left a mark.
Park revealed that he had no choice but to accept Cho's attacks passively, saying, "When the chairman's daughter said, 'Contact [the pilot] immediately to land this plane. I'll make it so that you can't ride this plane,' I didn't dare oppose her."
After Park was dropped off back in New York City, he boarded another plane to come back to Korea. When he came back home, the company instructed him to lie about the incident in case the prosecution or Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport spoke to him. Instead, he informed the news about it. When the incident became a subject of outrage throughout the nation, Park stated that Korean employees would come to his house in an attempt to dissuade him from sharing his story.
Park shared, "Everyday, around five or six Korean Air employees would come to my house." He continued, "They were [trying to] force me to say, 'I did not learn the manual well and the vice president was angry, but she did not curse at me and I voluntarily got off the plane myself.'" He added, "The company said, 'The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport is investigating those in charge of the Korean Air flight, such as the pilot and the purser; let's plan your answers together like it's a game.'"
It looks as though Park refused to play Korean Air's game and has instead decided to step forward with what he claims is the true version of the "nut rage" story.
Meanwhile, Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang Ho and his daughter Heather Cho recently made a public apology. During their apology, Heather Cho once again asserted that she had resigned from her position as vice president. Her father also stated that he was the one to blame and apologized.
News footage of their public apology can be seen below:
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