Another 'Graffiti Vandalism' on Gyeongbokgung Wall... Occurred During Restoration Work

Additional Discoveries Near the Fence Under Restoration

The stone wall of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, a cultural heritage site of Korea, has been vandalized with spray paint graffiti, sparking controversy. Just one day after the police began investigating, another graffiti was discovered.

According to Yonhap News on the 18th, the police received a report around 10:20 p.m. the previous day about additional spray paint graffiti found on the Gyeongbokgung stone wall. The new graffiti was found near Yeongchumun Gate, close to the area already damaged by graffiti and currently undergoing restoration by the Cultural Heritage Administration.

The new graffiti was written in English, and it has not yet been determined whether it was done by the same perpetrator as the graffiti discovered two days earlier. While the police are tracking down the vandal, a similar incident has occurred again.

On the morning of the 17th, Cultural Heritage Administration officials 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.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, in the early morning of the 16th, someone sprayed graffiti on the Gyeongbokgung stone wall with the phrase "Free Movie," which appears to refer to an illegal video sharing site.

The Cultural Heritage Administration, together with the police, is tracking the suspect using nearby closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and has begun swift restoration work with experts from the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage’s Conservation Science Center and the National Palace Museum’s cultural heritage preservation team.

The Cultural Heritage Administration plans to use various methods such as chemical treatment and laser cleaning for the restoration, and it is expected to take at least a week to remove the spray paint traces.

Currently, the police believe there are likely two suspects involved in the graffiti vandalism, and the intelligence and criminal investigation teams are cooperating in the investigation. However, since the suspects fled while avoiding CCTV, it is reported that tracking them is taking some time.

Meanwhile, Gyeongbokgung Palace was the royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty and is one of Korea’s representative tourist attractions, visited by millions of tourists annually. It was designated as a national historic site (cultural heritage) in 1963. The area near Yeongchumun Gate, where the graffiti damage occurred, is also included within the designated historic site boundaries.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.