NYT “땅콩사건, 재벌 오만함 감지한 한국 사회 공분케 해”
미국 뉴욕타임스(NYT)가 조현아 전 대한항공 부사장이 항소심에서 집행유예를 선고 받고 석방됐다고 보도했다.
<NYT>는 22일 「‘땅콩 분노’ 사건, 전 대한항공 이사 감형선고 후 석방」이라는 제목의 기사를 통해 조 전 부사장이 항소심에서 항로변경 혐의에 대해 무죄를 받으며 징역 10개월에 집행유예 2년을 선고받았다고 보도했다.
<NYT>는 하급심 재판 동안 항로변경 혐의를 두고 치열한 다툼이 있었다고 전했다. 신문은 조 전 부사장의 변호인단이 비행기가 이륙을 위해 출발한 직후 활주로로 접근하기 이전 게이트로 후진하도록 한 것은 ‘항로 변경’이 성립되지 않는다고 주장했고, 판사는 이를 받아들였다고 보도했다.
신문은 또한 “조 전 부사장의 진정성을 의심할 이유가 없다”며 ‘땅콩 분노’로 인해 자신이 받은 사회적 낙인을 의식하며 살아가야 할 것이라는 김상환 부장판사의 말을 전하기도 했다.
<NYT>는 해당 사건과 관련, 기사 말미에 재벌기업들을 경영하는 집안들의 오만함을 감지하고 깊은 염려를 느끼고 있는 한국 사회를 공분케 했다고 지적했다. (☞ ‘NYT’ 보도 보러가기)
한편, 조 전 부사장이 집행유예로 풀려나면서 당시 마카다미아를 서비스했던 승무원 김도희씨가 미국 뉴욕법원에 제기한 민사소송 결과에도 관심이 집중되고 있다.
조 전 부사장과 대한항공은 미국 로펌 ‘메이어브라운’에 손해배상 소송 대응을 의뢰했고, 해당 사건은 워터게이트 사건 특별검사팀에 속했던 리처드 벤-베니스테 변호사가 맡았다.
승무원 김씨는 ‘땅콩 사건’으로 정신적 충격을 받았다고 주장하며 한국에 없는 제도인 징벌적 손해배상도 함께 요구했다. 미국 소송은 7월 중순쯤 본격 진행될 예정이다.
| 다음은 <뉴스프로>의 ‘NYT’ 번역 전문. Ex-Korean Air Executive in ‘Nut Rage’ Case Freed From Prison After Sentence Is Cut SEOUL, South Korea — A former Korean Air vice president who incited international condemnation by ordering a plane back to its gate in a rage over how she was served macadamia nuts was released from prison on Friday after an appeals court judge reduced her sentence. The former executive, Cho Hyun-ah, 41, was sentenced to 10 months in prison on Friday on charges of violating aviation safety laws. But the appeals court suspended the sentence for two years, meaning that she will not serve time in prison as long as she does not commit a crime in the next two years. Ms. Cho, whose father is the chairman of Korean Air, had been jailed since her arrest in late December and was sentenced to one year in prison in a lower-court ruling in February. Ms. Cho became an object of international ridicule after she forced a Korean Air plane to return to the gate at Kennedy International Airport in New York on Dec. 5 so that the chief flight attendant could be removed. She became angry that a first-class flight attendant had served the nuts without first asking her, then in an unopened package rather than on a plate, according to court documents. On Friday, Kim Sang-hwan, the presiding judge at the Seoul High Court, reduced her punishment after striking down one of the charges against Ms. Cho: illegally forcing the plane to change its route. That charge had been hotly contested during the hearings of the lower court trial. Ms. Cho’s attorneys insisted that forcing the plane back to the gate shortly after leaving it, well before the plane approached a runway for takeoff, did not constitute “changing a route” — an argument Judge Kim accepted on Friday. The judge also acknowledged that Ms. Cho repented for her conduct while living in prison away from her twin babies. “There was no reason to doubt her sincerity,” he said, adding that Ms. Cho would have to deal with “the social stigma” that she had received because of her so-called nut rage. Prosecutors said that during the episode, Ms. Cho used abusive language and threw documents at one of the flight attendants. Her behavior set off outrage in South Korea, where many harbor deep misgivings about the perceived arrogance of the families who control the country’s major conglomerates. Ms. Cho, who was fired by her father after her scandal erupted, has repeatedly apologized and asked for lenience during her trial. |
