폭언과 성추행 논란에 휩싸인 서울시향 박현정 대표가 기자회견을 갖고 자신을 둘러싼 논란에 입을 열었다.
5일 오전 서울시향 박현정 대표는 기자회견에서 “처음에는 서울시향 대표 자리를 고사했다”며 “공공기관의 장으로서 머리숙여 사죄한다”라고 밝혔다.
박현정 대표는 “(시향에) 처음 와보고 방만하고 비효율적이고 조직이라 할 수 없는 동호회적인 문화에 놀랐다”며 “그런 조직을 추스르고 제자리로 돌리려고 많이 노력했다”고 말했다.
이어 “전임대표가 연임 제안을 받았는데 거절했다고 들었다”며 “나태한 문화, 공사구분 없는 문화에 익숙하던 분들을 체계화시키고 시스템화 시키려는 저의 목표나 의도와 갈등이 있었다”고 서울시향 박현정 대표는 기자회견에서 설명했다.
앞서 서울시향 사무국 직원 17명은 지난 2일 “박현정 대표 취임 이후 직원들은 성희롱, 폭언, 막말 등으로 처참하게 인권 유린을 당했다”며 박 대표의 부적절한 처신에 대한 감사를 요청했다.
이 소식을 접한 누리꾼들은 "서울시향 박현정 대표 기자회견, 맺힌게 많았나보네" "서울시향 박현정 대표 기자회견, 정명훈의 반응은 뭐지?" "서울시향 박현정 대표 기자회견, 그런 조직이라도 말은 심한 듯"등의 반응을 보였다.
키워드: 서울시향 박현정 대표 기자회견과 정명훈, 서울시향 박현정 대표 기자회견과 주요내용, 서울시향 박현정 대표 기자회견과 네티즌 반응, 서울시향 박현정 대표 기자회견과 향후 전개
<관련 영문 뉴스>
Seoul Phil CEO accuses artistic director of pulling strings behind the scenes
By Lee Woo-young
Park Hyun-jung, CEO of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, who faces demands for her resignation from employees accusing her of sexual harassment and arbitrary personnel management, said Friday that artistic director Chung Myung-whun may have pulled strings behind the scenes.
She also refused to step down and vowed to cooperate with investigations into the complaints.
“I am willing to cooperate with the national auditing agency, prosecutors or anyone in investigating this case,” she said at a press conference on Friday in Seoul.
“I was surprised when I first came here. The organization was reckless, lazy and inefficient. It couldn’t even be called an organization. It was just a group of people gathered for fun,” she said. She also claimed that Chung’s secretary came to her asking her to provide reimbursement for money Chung’s wife spent on hotel accommodation while their house was under repair.
Park has been accused of a series of acts of misconduct, including verbal and sexual abuse, by her staff at the city-run ensemble. Seventeen of the orchestra’s 27 staff members are demanding her immediate resignation. Park denied any wrongdoings after the scandal broke on Monday.
Seventeen of her employees claimed that she treated them “inhumanely,” and 13 of them have left the organization since she took the helm in February last year.
They provided an audio recording purportedly of her yelling and cursing at employees, which was broadcast on major TV channels. They claimed Park verbally harassed female employees on numerous occasions and physically assaulted a male staff member of another organization.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the staff members’ letter demanding Park’s resignation was submitted to the city government in October. Pressured by the staff, Park expressed her wish to resign, but changed her mind and opted to keep her post.
After receiving a Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University, Park had a successful career with Samsung Life Insurance, a unit of Samsung Group. She was appointed the head of the country’s most beloved orchestra in 2013. Park’s term ends on Jan. 31, 2016.
(wylee@heraldcorp.com)