On the 25th, a man in his 30s who instructed teenagers last year to spray graffiti on the walls of Gyeongbokgung Palace with phrases reminiscent of illegal streaming sites was arrested.
Nam Cheon-gyu, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, issued an arrest warrant for Kang (30), who is suspected of damaging or concealing cultural heritage under the Cultural Heritage Protection Act and violating copyright law, citing concerns over evidence tampering and flight risk.
At 1:18 p.m. that day, Kang arrived at the court wearing a black mask and did not respond to reporters' questions about why he ordered the graffiti, what he thought about the restoration work, or if he had any words for the minors involved, heading straight to the courtroom.
According to the police, Kang, who operated an illegal video sharing site and was known as "Team Leader Lee," is accused of damaging the walls of Gyeongbokgung Palace, a nationally designated cultural property, by offering 3 million won to Lim (18) and Kim (17) to spray graffiti.
Investigations revealed that Kang ordered the crime to promote the illegal video sharing site he operated. He is also accused of running a pornography distribution site and posting child sexual exploitation material (charges include distribution of obscene material under the Information and Communications Network Act and distribution of sexual exploitation material under the Youth Protection Act).
In December of last year, Lim and others, under Kang's orders, sprayed the phrase "Free Movies" along with the address of the video sharing site on the walls near Yeongchumun Gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace, the side gate near the National Palace Museum, and the east gate wall of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. The graffiti extended approximately 30 meters.
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