Prosecutors Demand 3 Years Imprisonment for Gyeongbokgung Graffiti Copycat... "Planned Crime"

The prosecution has requested a three-year prison sentence for a man in his 20s who was charged with damaging the wall of Gyeongbokgung Palace with spray paint.

A man in his 20s arrested and sent to prosecution for graffiti imitation at Gyeongbokgung Palace. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 13th, during the trial of Mr. Seol on charges of violating the Cultural Heritage Protection Act held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 24 (Presiding Judge Choi Kyung-seo), the prosecution asked the court to sentence him to three years in prison.

The prosecution stated, "This is a very serious case of damaging a nationally designated cultural property," and explained the reason for the sentence request, saying, "He posted a notice of the crime in advance and prepared the tools for the crime beforehand, committing the act in a planned manner. Even after the police investigation, he posted on his blog that he was not sorry, showing no remorse."

Mr. Seol pleaded for leniency, saying, "I have reflected deeply while in detention and will live with remorse for the rest of my life," and "I apologize to those who had to work hard to erase the graffiti during the cold winter."

Mr. Seol is accused of spraying red graffiti on the left stone wall of the West Gate (Yeongchumun) of Gyeongbokgung Palace, a nationally designated cultural property, on December 17 of last year. Investigations revealed that he committed the act in imitation after reading a news article about the damage to the Gyeongbokgung wall caused by someone else's graffiti the day before the crime.

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