Court Rejects Arrest Warrant for 50-Year-Old Lee Accused of Damaging Seolleung

"No Risk of Escape or Evidence Tampering"
Reflecting First-Time Offenders and Evidence Collection Status

The arrest warrant for Ms. Lee, a woman in her 50s who damaged Seolleung, a Joseon Dynasty royal tomb registered as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, was dismissed by the police. Photo shows the damaged Seolleung. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The arrest warrant for Ms. Lee, a woman in her 50s who damaged Seolleung, a Joseon royal tomb registered as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, was dismissed by the police.

On the 16th, Shin Young-hee, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, dismissed the arrest warrant after conducting a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant review) for Ms. Lee, who is accused of violating the Cultural Heritage Protection Act.

Judge Shin stated, "Considering that the suspect admitted to the charges and is a first-time offender, her attitude during the investigation and interrogation, the motive for the crime, the extent of the damage, the collected evidence, her residence, and family relations, it is difficult to see any risk of flight or evidence tampering."

According to the police, Ms. Lee is accused of damaging Seolleung, the tomb of King Seongjong, located in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, by making a fist-sized hole around 2:30 a.m. on the 14th, violating the Cultural Heritage Protection Act, among other charges.

Seolleung is the tomb where King Seongjong, the 9th king of Joseon, and his third queen, Queen Jeonghyeon Yoon, are buried. It was registered as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 2009.

The Gangnam Police Station in Seoul tracked Ms. Lee’s movements based on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and arrested her at her home in Gyeonggi-do around 5:40 p.m. on the day of the incident. They applied for an arrest warrant the previous day.

The police explained that the reasons for applying for the arrest warrant included the fact that Seolleung is a nationally designated cultural asset registered as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, that she trespassed on a facility managed by the National Heritage Administration, and concerns about copycat crimes due to recent consecutive cultural heritage damage incidents, reflecting the seriousness of the case.

Going forward, the police plan to strengthen the charges and decide whether to transfer the case to the prosecution.