The 'Satan Harabeoji' Breaking Snowmen Has Come Again This Year

Snowmen Everywhere Amid Heavy Snow... Cases of Deliberate Destruction
"Violent" vs "Personal Freedom" Debate
Legal Experts Say "Property Status Varies by Purpose"

As heavy snowfall accumulated due to the severe cold, people began making snowmen with joy. However, a story about someone destroying carefully made snowmen every winter for no reason has sparked heated debates on social networking services (SNS).

A post appeared on an online community claiming that someone had destroyed a snowman painstakingly made by students at a university in Jeonnam. The students had built a snowman of the character 'Vanellope' from "Wreck-It Ralph" in front of a signboard guiding the university buildings.

However, not long after, the snowman was destroyed. The author wrote on the online community along with photos, "I don't know why someone is going around destroying snowmen, but I hope no one kicks snowmen that others have made with care."

"Why destroy snowmen made with joy and memories... it's violent"

The 'snowman destruction' controversy began last January when a video of someone destroying a snowman of Elsa from Frozen in front of a cafe in Daejeon spread on Instagram. Netizens who saw the video claimed it was "violent."

They pointed out that the problem was not just destroying the snowman itself, but the act of destroying snowmen that someone had made with joy and memories with great care.

They also argued that destroying objects itself reveals violent tendencies, which is not limited to snowmen but could extend to people and animals.

"It melts and disappears anyway, so excessive emotional attachment... personal freedom"

On the other hand, some responded that destroying snowmen is a personal freedom and questioned what harm there is in kicking a 'snow' person rather than a human. Since it naturally melts and disappears anyway, there is no need for excessive emotional attachment.

They also noted that snowmen have been destroyed frequently in the past, but now the photos and videos are posted on social networking services (SNS), causing controversy.

"If you spray water on a snowman, it turns to ice and doesn't break easily" - coping methods

As snowman destruction becomes a controversy every winter, coping methods against people who destroy snowmen have been posted on social networking services (SNS) and communities.

One netizen shared a method of wrapping a bollard (a structure placed at the boundary between the road and sidewalk to prevent cars from entering the sidewalk) with snow to make a snowman, while another suggested intentionally putting stones inside. Some also said, "If you spray water while making a snowman, it turns into an ice block and doesn't break."

Legal circles: "It is difficult to consider snowmen as property, but..."

Meanwhile, legal experts say that the 'property status' of a snowman can vary depending on the purpose of its creation. Article 366 of the Criminal Act on property damage is a crime established when someone intentionally reduces the value of another person's property. Generally, it is difficult to consider a snowman as property, but if it is created for a specific purpose such as an exhibition, it is included as an art object and recognized as property.