Team Leader Lee Who Ordered Graffiti at Gyeongbokgung Also Targeted Daegu Subway

Suspect Tracking Underway but Instructions Continue
"Wearing a Mask and Hat Won't Get You Caught," Attempts to Persuade

It has been revealed that the so-called 'Team Leader Lee,' who instructed two teenagers to spray paint Gyeongbokgung Palace, also commissioned graffiti at a Daegu subway station.

On the 26th, the police announced that A, known as 'Team Leader Lee,' instructed another teenager on the 18th to spray graffiti at a Daegu subway station. This was just two days after instructing Im (17) and B (16) in the early morning of the 16th to vandalize Gyeongbokgung Palace with spray paint. By then, the graffiti vandalism had already been widely reported, and the police had begun tracking suspects.

On the morning of the 16th, graffiti vandalism indicating an illegal video sharing site was sprayed on the fence facing the National Palace Museum at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul. The Cultural Heritage Administration installed a temporary barrier at the damaged fence site and is cleaning the damaged area using preservation treatment agents together with experts.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

At around 7 a.m. on the 18th, A approached a teenager via Telegram and asked where they lived. Upon learning they lived in Daegu, A instructed them to graffiti the subway station passage during early morning hours. A said it did not matter which subway station and persuaded them by saying, "If you wear a mask and a hat, you won't get caught." However, as the teenager hesitated to commit the crime, the Daegu subway graffiti attack did not actually occur.

A, who introduced himself as a site operator, was the person who instructed Im and B in the early morning of the 16th to graffiti phrases such as "Free Movies" and "○○○TV," along with illegal video sharing site addresses, on the walls of Gyeongbokgung Palace. In police investigations, Im stated that "a person called 'Team Leader Lee' commissioned the graffiti, promising to pay 3 million won if the graffiti was done with red and blue spray paint."

On the morning of the 17th, officials from the Cultural Heritage Administration were removing graffiti sprayed by someone the previous day on the wall of Gyeongbokgung Palace near the side gate of the National Palace Museum in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The police secured the mobile phone of the initial graffiti perpetrator, 17-year-old Im, completed forensic analysis, and checked whether the account used by the instigator to transfer 100,000 won to Im as an advance payment was a dummy account. They are also analyzing Telegram chat records exchanged between Im and the instigator to identify the instigator's identity. However, Telegram is known for its strong security and overseas servers, making tracking difficult.

Meanwhile, the Cultural Heritage Administration plans to remove the graffiti traces and match the surrounding stone color by the 29th. After expert consultation and monitoring, they intend to remove the protective barriers installed around the wall and open the site to the public on January 4th next year.