It’s the time of year in Korean companies for personnel changes.
Last year was a difficult year for Korea’s major airlines. Asiana Airlines in particular suffered as a result of the economy and general trouble within the Kumho Asiana Group which was forced to enact a debt workout that left a third of its executives jobless. (Much of Kumho Asiana’s trouble came from its decision to purchase Daewoo Engineering & Construction in 2006.) Korean Air had its own problems posting net losses in 2008 and 2009 of $1.8 billion and $77.8 million respectively.
With the turn around this year in the airline industry and both companies posting in the black it appears that personnel changes have been more favorable. Asiana didn’t lay off a single executive, actually adding a few to its numbers and Korean Air promoted an additional 45 executives. Among those 45 executives was the youngest daughter of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho, Emily Cho. While it is great to see a young female executive in Korea standing in stark contrast to the hierarchical age-based promotion nonsense that persists in this culture, it is unfortunate that it comes in the form of nepotism.
