A former top banking executive was appointed chief executive of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra on Tuesday, amid lingering troubles at the country’s finest ensemble after the scandalous departure last year of its former CEO.

Choe Heung-sik, the former head of Hana Financial Group, the country’s fourth-largest financial group, will take office on July 1 as the orchestra’s CEO, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said in a press announcement. The orchestra is partly funded by the municipal government. 

Under the reign of Choe in 2006, Hana Financial entered into a sponsorship contract with the orchestra, and has since remained one of its biggest corporate donors to date.

The appointment comes six months after the exit of his predecessor Park Hyun-jung after her alleged misconduct, including “inhumane” treatment of subordinates, was revealed to the media by her own staff.

Cornered, Park tried to turn the table on the orchestra’s music director Chung Myung-hwun, whose “high” pay had been a subject of a public debate before. She claimed that Chung ran the orchestra as if it was his private group, effectively giving him another round of media treatment. She also sought to identify who conspired against her, which led to an unprecedented police raid of the orchestra’s office in March. One of the orchestra’s staff members under investigation had reportedly attempted to commit suicide.

Chung, who is currently on a one-year extended stay at the Seoul-based orchestra, said in a recent interview that he may put an end to his 10-year devotion to the Seoul Philharmonic and not renew his contract.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)