Korean police seek Interpol red notice for subway graffiti suspects

Graffiti is seen on a subway train at a subway car depot in Incheon. (Incheon Transit Corp.)

South Korean police said Friday that they have requested Interpol’s assistance for the capture of two suspects who fled the country after allegedly committing a series of graffiti vandalism on subway cars here.

According to Incheon Nonhyeon Police, police have obtained an arrest warrant for the suspects on charges of breaking into a building and damaging property. Since they appear to have already left the country, they have requested Interpol to issue a red notice, investigators said.

The two, whose nationalities were not disclosed, were caught on surveillance camera spray-painting graffiti on one side of a car at a subway depot in Namdong-gu, Incheon, at around 3 a.m. on Monday.

Police said they also broke the fence and barbed wire at the subway vehicle depot late at night when high voltage power lines along the railway line were turned off.

The case follows a series of graffiti hits on subway cars over the past two weeks.

Since Oct. 12, subway cars have been found covered with similar graffiti in six cities nationwide including Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon and Gwangju.

Police suspect that the Incheon duo may have been behind the vandalism in other cities, considering the graffiti shape and how the suspects broke into the facilities.

Spray-painting graffiti without permission of the owner of spaces is regarded as vandalism.

By Park Han-na(hnpark@heraldcorp.com)