Biography of Cho Yangho
Cho Yangho was the Chairman and CEO of Korean Air, Chairman of the Hanjin Group, and a founding member of the SkyTeam alliance.
He served as Chairman of the Hanjin Group, one of the largest transportation conglomerates in the world. He was appointed to this position in February 2003, after serving as Vice Chairman of the group since 1996. He was also Director and CEO of several subsidiary companies, including Hanjin Shipping, Korea Airport Service (KAS), JungSeok Enterprise Co., and Hanjin Information Systems & Telecommunications (HIST).
In addition to his corporate responsibilities, Cho was elected Vice Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) in 1996 and held the position of Honorary Consul General for Ireland in the Republic of Korea since 1995. He had been a member of the Board of Governors of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) since being elected in May 2001.
He also became Chairman of the Korea–Canada Business Council in 1993. Since 2004, he had served as Chairman of the Korea Defense Industry Association. Cho was a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Southern California (USC) since 1997. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Inha University and Hankuk Aviation University.
Private life
Cho was married and had one son and two daughters: Cho Won-tae, Cho Hyun-ah (also known by her English name Heather Cho), and Cho Hyeon-min. All three children graduated from the University of Southern California.
His daughter, Cho Hyun-ah, was the head of the hotel division of the company and was the subject of a news story in December 2014, after she ordered a Korean Air Lines plane to return to the gate to remove a flight attendant who had served her macadamia nuts incorrectly. She was forced to resign after the incident and was sentenced to one year in prison without probation in February 2015.