Chung Myung-whun, the former music director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, has been cleared of embezzlement charges, police in Seoul said Thursday.
Chung was accused of having taken about W41 million of orchestra funds for plane tickets for his family (US$1=W1,115).
But police now believe that Chung had merely double-booked to be on the safe side and the unused tickets were canceled, but the orchestra's accounting clerk mistakenly filed the canceled air tickets. A police spokesman said it was a simple clerical error.
Chung in a press release said it is "regrettable that the orchestra and I suffered tremendous damage because of the false suspicion."
Police will also not press charges against a clerk for paying Chung W39.5 million to put up his family in a hotel while his house was being renovated in 2007.
The payment was not illegal because it had been authorized by the orchestra board at Chung's request, police said.
