Heather Cho, the oldest daughter of Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho, has asked a U.S. court to dismiss a lawsuit involving an onboard tantrum dubbed “nut rage” on Tuesday, saying the case should be handled by a court in Korea. 

“It is more appropriate to hold a plea in Korea as all parties related to the case are Korean nationals and investigations were also conducted in the country,” an attorney representing Cho said. 

The motion comes months after a flight attendant who was harassed by the former Korean Air vice president Cho filed a civil suit against the airline and the executive with the Supreme Court of the State of New York County of Queens in March.

The female cabin crew member Kim Do-hee was seeking compensation after suffering verbal and physical abuse from Cho, who was angered by how she was served macadamia nuts. The level of compensation has not been specified.

Cho and her attorneys said they filed the motion for dismissal based on forum non conveniens, asserting that holding a plea in the U.S. was inefficient as trial and probe records needed to be translated into English and witnesses needed to be summoned to the country.

“It’s hard to say that the New York court doesn’t have jurisdiction as the incident occurred at JFK International Airport in New York, but we asked for the dismissal upon the logic that an inconvenient forum should be avoided,” an attorney representing Cho said. 

Meanwhile, another Korean Air cabin crew chief Park Chang-jin, who is also involved in the case, is planning to file a suit in the U.S., claiming 50 billion won ($43.8 million) in damages.

In May, the Seoul High Court sentenced Cho to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)