Efforts underway to restore vandalized Gyeongbok Palace wall

A section of the Gyeongbok Palace wall in Seoul was vandalized with graffiti. Authorities are investigating the incident and plan to restore the wall promptly.

The western part of the Gyeongbok Palace walls were seen to have been vandalized with spray paint graffiti early Saturday morning. [YONHAP]

The western part of the Gyeongbok Palace walls were seen to have been vandalized with spray paint graffiti early Saturday morning. [YONHAP]

The Cultural Heritage Administration announced Saturday that it will promptly restore a section of the Gyeongbok Palace wall that was vandalized with spray paint graffiti.

The graffiti, spray painted in Korean with red and blue paint, was first reported by a resident walking through the area at around 2:20 a.m. Saturday.

Seoul Jongno Police Station said it has been working to track down the suspect by analyzing CCTV footage. The police said the suspect began spray painting the wall at around 1:50 a.m.

The words “free movie” in Korean and a web address to an apparent illegal streaming website were spray painted multiple times on both sides of Yeongchumun, or the western gate of Gyeongbok Palace, in central Seoul. The total length of the vandalized area spans about 44 meters (144 feet), the administration said.

A researcher from the Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center tries to clean off the graffiti on the wall of the Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul on Saturday. [YONHAP]

A temporary screen has been set up to cover up the graffiti on Saturday. [NEWS1]

The administration covered the graffiti with a tarp on Saturday afternoon and has been working with researchers from the Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center to wipe off the graffiti.

“Gyeongbok Palace is a state-designated cultural property, and the walls of Yeongchumun are a part of the palace,” an official from the administration said. “Therefore, we are working together with the Jongno police to track down the suspect and will make sure they are punished for violating the Cultural Properties Protection Law.”

The administration also said it will install more CCTVs around Gyeongbok Palace.

In 2017, a man in his 40s was sentenced to two years in prison for violating the Cultural Properties Protection Law after spray painting the walls of Eonyang Eupseong fortress, a historical landmark of Eonyang in Ulju, Ulsan. Eonyang Eupseong is a state-designated historic site.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]