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Prosecutors seek arrest warrant for wife of Korean Air chairman

By Wooyoung Lee
Lee Myung-hee, the wife of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho, is surrounded by reporters as she arrives at an immigration office in Seoul on June 11 for questioning. Photo by Yonhap
Lee Myung-hee, the wife of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho, is surrounded by reporters as she arrives at an immigration office in Seoul on June 11 for questioning. Photo by Yonhap

SEOUL, June 19 (UPI) -- South Korean prosecutors requested another arrest warrant for the wife of Korean Air's chairman on charges of illicit employment of Filipino housekeepers, two weeks after a request on a different charge was denied..

The new warrant seeks to charge Lee Myung-hee with violating immigration law. Lee is accused of employing Filipino housekeepers who were disguised as vocational trainees for Korean Air. Earlier, she was being investigated for allegations of assault and verbal abuse to her house staff members.

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Lee is accused of having some 20 Filipino housekeepers illegally hired through the Korean Air to assist housework at her residence and home of her daughter Cho Hyun-ah, who gained notoriety for the "nut rage" incident, Yonhap reported. Cho is also accused in the housekeeper hiring case.

Lee has acknowledged hiring Filipino women as housekeepers, but denied doing it illegally.

The Korean Air owner family has been under fire over a series of allegations.

The chairman's other daughter, Cho Hyun-min, was accused of throwing a container of water at an advertising agency official in a business meeting in March. The incident, revealed through an audio file recorded on the scene, led to revelations of other complaints against the family.

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On Tuesday, another voice file obtained by South Korea's Money Today, caused a stir. In the file, a woman suspected to be Cho Hyun-ah throws a tantrum to her husband's personal driver in 2014, accusing him of not reporting her husband's meal plan.

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