The Gyeongbokgung Copycat Who Said "Not Sorry" Faces Arrest, Now Says "Sorry"

Appearance at court on the 22nd for the warrant hearing

The decision on whether to detain the man in his 20s accused of 'copying graffiti on the Gyeongbokgung Palace wall' is expected to be made as early as today (22nd). The Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Minsu, in charge of warrants) conducted a detention warrant hearing for Seol Mo (28), who is suspected of violating the Cultural Heritage Protection Act, starting around 9:30 a.m. on the same day.

After the hearing, Seol responded to reporters' questions asking, "Why did you commit the crime?" by saying, "I'm sorry."

Seol is accused of damaging cultural heritage by making a second graffiti on the Gyeongbokgung Palace wall on the 17th. One day after the crime, on the 18th, he voluntarily appeared at the Jongno Police Station in Seoul and was investigated for about six hours.

A man in his 20s, Seol Mo, who spray-painted graffiti for the second time on the wall of Gyeongbokgung Palace, a nationally designated cultural property, is leaving the courtroom after a warrant hearing held on the morning of the 22nd at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

It was confirmed that Seol posted a blog entry along with a certification photo taken immediately after the crime.

In the post, he explained his motive by saying, "I wanted to play a mischievous prank as Mischief says. I'm sorry. No, I'm not sorry. I was just doing art." Mischief is a performance artist group formed in New York, USA.

He also added, "Everyone seems to be taking the situation too seriously," and "It's just graffiti, and while people mention the incident of the burning of Sungnyemun and see me as a terrible person, that won't happen."

Meanwhile, on the 22nd at around 2:40 p.m., Lim Mo (17), the male suspect among the teenage boy and girl who made the first graffiti on the 16th, also appeared at the Seoul Central District Court for a detention warrant hearing.

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