The 56-year-old, whose position involves duties such as managing the cabin and flight paperwork, said the hours were accumulated during his 32 years in the industry. By 1999 Park had spent 20,000 hours on board and by 2004 he had reached 25,000 hours.

The secret to his time on board was keeping “a positive and friendly attitude,” Park said, but also prioritizing customer service through human relationships.

“I feel it is the most rewarding when I do my best to serve the passengers with an upbeat attitude, and they appreciate my work,” Park said.

With decades of experience, the purser has watched the flight industry develop before him.

“For example, since this past June Korean Air has been offering the best equipment on the B777-300ers,” Park said. The airline now also offers traditional Korean food for in-flight meals, including the national dish bibim-bap.

Not only have there been advances in technology and amenities, but there have also been cultural changes within the stewardess personnel, Park noted.

“The average height of stewardesses has grown and their appearances have become more Westernized,” he said. “The uniforms have also changed six times since I’ve begun working.”

Health must be well-maintained to prepare for long travel hours, said the purser. Particularly given the fact that typical medical care is not available while thousands of miles in the air.

“It is particularly important to overcome the differences (in resources),” Park said. He added that there are measures to help prevent ill health, including drinking plenty of water, getting enough rest and exercising when possible.

Park will retire in September, concluding his career with the South Korean record under his belt. In his last month Park said he wants to have one last perfect flight, free of any mistakes or regrets.

“That way, I think I’ll remain in my employees’ memories for a long time,” he said. But Park plans to continue living a life full of activities and goodwill.

“After I retire I want to exercise a lot and learn to play the saxophone that I first picked up four years ago,” Park said. “Another thing is that I would like to do volunteer work so that I can live my life on behalf of others.”

However, Korean Air said it has no intention of abiding by the watchdog’s advice because it “seriously” violates an individual company’s rights to formulate its own hiring system.

The state-run National Human Rights Commission said the country’s largest airline has not recruited new male cabin crew since 1997. It said Korean Air has been filling male crew positions from those working at other in-house divisions.

The commission’s advice is not legally binding, but investigator Na Sang-won said that if Korean Air does not comply, the watchdog may ask the Labor Ministry to take punitive action.

Korea’s law on equal opportunity in employment carries a maximum penalty of a 5 million won ($3,810) fine.

The watchdog said Asiana Airlines Inc., the country’s second-largest airline, had not also hired male cabin crew for its domestic flights but stopped the practice this year.

Korean Air said in a statement later Wednesday that it would not change its hiring practices, but aimed to deploy some male employees with experience to flight attendant positions.

The company said it was difficult to apply the same system on female employees because they have fewer years of service compared with their male counterparts.

Korean Air said it has about 3,150 flight attendants — 2,730 women and 420 men.

The airline Thursday launched the game “Narara, Bihaeng Sonyeo (Fly, Flight Girl)!” jointly developed by Hansol Education’s online game affiliate Hansol DK, at the education game site www.funitto.com.

The game was developed according to Korean Air’s cabin service procedure and manual, so that gamers can grasp a real picture of what a Korean Air’s flight attendant job is really like.

The characters wear the same uniform as Korean Air attendants, while the airline’s seat design was directly adopted in the game, including the Cosmo Sleeper Seat in first class and the Prestige Plus Seat in business class.

In the game, the player becomes a cabin crewmember. He or she provides services to passengers, such as getting them drinks, and copes with various situations. If the gamer advances into higher levels, the background of the game is upgraded from economy class to business and first class. The character is also promoted from an intern to a purser.

In the game, the plane flies 162 routes, including those operated by Korean Air, such as routes to Munich, Sao Paulo, Tel Aviv and Tashkent. Various ending scenarios and congratulatory messages come at the conclusion of every game.

“By reenacting in-flight service in the cyber world, the game will provide fun to children and a job education program for flight attendant hopefuls,” a Korean Air official said.

The game will be available at jr.naver.com and kr.kids.yahoo.com, Naver and Yahoo’s child portals, respectively, within the year.

In commemoration of the game launch, Korean Air is holding an event on its Web site, www.koreanair.com, through Dec. 25. Among those enjoying the game at the site or sending e-mails to friends to recommend the game, one person will be given the chance for a trip to Jeju Island, 30 others will receive B747 aircraft models, and another 30, a USB memory stick.