'Maestro's wife behind defamation'

By Jung Min-ho

Chung Myung-whun

Park Hyun-jung

The wife of Chung Myung-whun, the music director of Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO), might have been the mastermind behind the defamation campaign against former CEO Park Hyun-jung, who resigned last December amid accusations that she had sexually harassed and verbally abused members of the orchestra, police said Sunday.

Police said they recently booked Chung’s wife, surnamed Koo, without detention for allegedly instructing SPO employees to tarnish Park’s reputation in order to oust her.

Ten SPO employees have already been booked on charges of having falsely accused her of sexual and verbal abuse.

Police suspect that Koo led the defamation plan, giving specific directions to Baek, Chung’s secretary, who carried it out with nine other employees.

Police said they have not directly questioned Koo yet as she has been abroad for about a year. Baek has also been in hospital after giving birth to a child recently, according to police.

Last December, 17 of the SPO’s 27 employees claimed that Park treated them “inhumanely” with physical and verbal abuse and demanded her immediate resignation.

As evidence, they provided an audio recording purportedly of her yelling and cursing at them, which was aired on national TV programs.

Police launched an investigation following the suspicions. However, they cleared her of the allegations in August and instead booked the employees for defaming Park.

Park has long claimed that Chung was behind the defamation campaign. She said that they were often at odds with each other after she was appointed CEO of the orchestra in 2013.

Chung himself was found to have arranged for his family members to use airplane tickets, which were supposed to be for his manager only, during his 10-year stint with the SPO.

Despite the revelation, however, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) decided last year to renew a one-year contract with him.

Following the decision, many, including city councilors, accused the city government of taking side with Chung. Others criticized Mayor Park Won-soon, who pledged to apply the utmost ethical standards and not to tolerate any corrupt civil servants just a few months ago.

The SPO will hold a directors’ meeting on Monday to decide on the renewal of Chung’s contract. The maestro said earlier in August that he would not renew his contract as music director.

According to a source close to the issue, SMG plans to extend his contract.

“Although details of the new contract with him are unknown for now, I was informed that the city government will keep him on much better conditions,” the source said.

In the aftermath of infighting and drama at the SPO, Choe Heung-sik, a former banking executive and former head of Hana Financial Group, has run the orchestra as its new CEO since July 1.