Gyeongbokgung Wall's 'Second Graffiti Culprit'... Claims "I Was Just Creating Art"

A suspect involved in a 'copycat crime' who vandalized the wall of Gyeongbokgung Palace with spray paint was found to have posted on his blog after the incident, claiming, "I was not committing a crime but creating art."

A man in his 20s, suspect A, who is accused of copycat vandalism by spray-painting graffiti on the wall of Gyeongbokgung Palace, voluntarily appeared at Jongno Police Station in Seoul on the afternoon of the 18th, was questioned, and then went home. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The suspect, a man in his 20s identified as Mr. A, stated on his blog on the morning of the 20th, "I wanted to play a mischievous prank as Mischief would," adding, "I'm sorry. No, I'm not sorry. I was just creating art." Mischief is an American artist group formed in 2019.

Mr. A also wrote that "It’s a bit embarrassing that I misspelled the spelling. It would have been better if I had made the heart black," expressing regret for not writing Mischief’s name correctly. He continued, "Everyone seems to be taking the situation too seriously," and added, "It’s just graffiti. People mention the incident of the burning of Sungnyemun and see me as a terrible person, but I don’t think that’s the case."

It was revealed that Mr. A even posted 'proof photos' on this blog immediately after the crime on the 17th. Along with the photos, he wrote, "Come to my exhibition. It will soon be closed with a tent," and "Admission is free, just look with your eyes."

The police confirmed that the author of the post was indeed Mr. A. He is suspected of violating the Cultural Heritage Protection Act by spray-painting the name of a specific singer and album title on the left wall of Yeongchumun Gate at Gyeongbokgung Palace around 10:20 p.m. on the 17th. Mr. A voluntarily appeared at the police station on the 18th, a day after the crime, and was questioned for about six hours. During the investigation, he reportedly stated that he did the graffiti because he wanted to gain attention.

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