[Photo by Yoo Dae-gil = dbeorlf123@ajunews.com]
SEOUL -- Prosecutors requested an arrest warrant for the wife of Hanjin group chief Cho Yang-ho over allegations that she has illegally hired Filipino housekeepers without proper visas.
The request came on Monday, two weeks after a court refused to issue an arrest warrant for Lee Myung-hee, 69, for verbally and physically assaulting company employees, housekeepers, flight attendants and security guards at her home, citing no possibility of running away or destroying evidence.
After their first attempt to arrest Lee failed, prosecutors turned their eyes to allegations that Korean Air and its branch in Manila have acquired traineeship visas for about 20 Filipino women for ten years to let them work as maids at the homes of Cho Yang-ho and his eldest daughter, Cho Hyun-ah.
Lee is suspected of orchestrating illegal employment by controlling Korean Air's human resources department. She has been widely criticized as a typical example of "Gapjil" that means an abuse of power such as mistreatment, arrogant behavior, crude talk, character assassination, and insults.
Earlier, police accused Lee of hurling a pair of pruning shears at a security guard in his house for failing to take care of the house door properly, kicking a chauffeur for a mistake in the street, beating a gardener and slapping a construction worker.
Law enforcement authorities have launched a barrage of interrogations into the ruling family's illegal activities, abuse of power, assaults, tax evasion and smuggling of luxury goods.
Lee's youngest daughter, Cho Hyun-min, has been questioned on charges of assault. She lost her temper during a business meeting on March 16 and threw a glass cup at an advertising company official. Many South Koreans saw it as emblematic of a generation of spoilt and arrogant offsprings of chaebol owners.
Cho Hyun-ah was also questioned by customs officials for bringing in personal goods purchased overseas without paying taxes. She was once arrested in 2014 for an onboard tantrum when served macadamia nuts in a bag rather than a bowl. She was imprisoned for a year for violating aviation law but she was released in May 2015 after an appeals court suspended her sentence.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
