There is no doubt that Chung Myung-whun is a source of pride for Koreans. Many welcomed the news that the internationally renowned pianist-conductor decided to take the post of artistic director of Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in 2005.

Chung did not betray expectations. The orchestra has grown, as he put it recently, to become “the best in Asia” under his stewardship.

Before Chung took over the baton, the SPO managed to fill less than 40 percent of the seats at its concert halls, but now it sells more than 90 percent of tickets. It released records on world-famous labels and successfully debuted at the prestigious BBC Proms stage last summer, the second Asian orchestra to do so.

But the growth of the Seoul Philharmonic under Chung’s leadership did not come without controversy, including criticism that his salary is too high. Most recently, the former CEO of the SPO accused the music director of running the orchestra like a private organization.

Unfortunately, some of the allegations made by Park Hyun-jung, the former CEO who stepped down last month in the wake of allegations of verbal abuses of her staff, were found to be true in a special audit conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

City auditors said Chung’s unilateral decision to visit Austria to conduct the Vienna State Opera Orchestra as a guest conductor last month forced the cancellation of planned SPO concerts. The conductor told SPO members to “voluntarily” perform for the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra, which is not a year-round symphony orchestra but a performance-focused festival orchestra. Officials said this breached the SPO’s regulations.

There was more serious ethical misconduct: Chung recruited his son’s former piano teacher as an SPO member and gave personal favors in signing the former employee of a company run by his elder brother.

It was also dismaying to hear that the director gave flight tickets, which were supposed to be used by his road manager, to his own son and daughter-in-law. The value of those tickets amounted to 13 million won.

Chung did not address each of the cases listed by city auditors, but they should raise questions about his ethical standards. The SPO is funded by taxpayers’ money, and he ought to abide by the same ethical codes as public servants.

Chung said in a news conference early last week that he accepted the post of music director based on the understanding that he would only interfere with the musical direction of the SPO, and not its management.

“I put together the program, and I sit in on auditions,” he said.

We cannot agree more. The music director should not be bothered by worldly concerns and be given independent authority as far as his command of the musical elements of the orchestra are concerned. Guaranteeing artistic freedom and rights is one thing. Allowing him to sit in on auditions to give vacant orchestra seats to people with personal connections, and making family trips with tickets bought with taxpayers’ money is another.

These are flagrant violations of the city’s ethics rules, which should lead to heavy disciplinary action for any public servant. Chung should at least apologize and city authorities should take disciplinary action against him and city officials who neglected their duties. Against this backdrop, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon deserves harsh criticism for remaining silent.

In the news conference, which was held days before the city auditors’ announcement, Chung dismissed criticism about his pay, saying that the dispute should not be about how much he receives but about whether the public is getting its money’s worth with his conducting of the SPO.

If Chung and Park fail to take appropriate measures to address the director’s ethical lapses, many of those who had agreed with Chung’s view on his salary will begin thinking the other way. This would hurt not the maestro’s reputation but also that of the SPO.