[Yonhap News Photo]
South Korea's prominent maestro Chung Myung-whun regained his impaired reputation Thursday after police cleared him of allegations he had embezzled money while heading a prestigious orchestra.
Chung, 63, has been questioned by police after MBC, a local broadcaster, reported that he was suspected of embezzling orchestra funds by exaggerating the cost of airline tickets he purchased. He resigned as director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) in December last year after a decade of service.
After analyzing his travel records and receipts of the tickets, police concluded that Chung was not involved in any wrongdoing.
Separately, the maestro has been locked in a legal battle with his predecessor, Park Hyun-jung, 54, who quit in March over allegations she had sexually and verbally harassed orchestra members. The two have a libel suit against each other for spreading false accusations.
Some orchestra members, supported by Chung, have filed a complaint with police against Park, but she claimed Chung's wife and secretary were suspected of spread groundless rumors.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
