Opposition leader alleges 'black magic' in grave desecration

A photo of a stone with a curse in Chinese characters written on it, which allegedly was buried in the ground next to Lee Jae-myung's parents' graves in Bonghwa-gun, North Gyeongsang Province. (Lee Jae-myung's Facebook account)

Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung on Sunday pointed to those practicing "black magic" as being responsible for the desecretion of his parents' grave site in Bonghwa-gun, North Gyeongsang Province.

“According to (an expert’s) observation, it is a ritual of black magic to dig holes on all sides of a grave and bury evil objects in them. The practice is meant to block the energy of the grave and curse the descendants in order to annihilate them and ruin the family," the former presidential candidate said in a Facebook post.

It has been alleged that the graves of Lee's parents were desecrated with holes dug all around them and stones painted with the Chinese characters believed to mean "life killing" on them buried there.

He also shared photos of the graves where the stones were buried, saying that some people had deliberately stepped on the grave mounds to flatten and damage them.

A photo of the grave mound with holes dug around it shared by Lee Jae-myung on Sunday. (Lee Jae-myung's Facebook account)

Similar desecration of grave sites has also been claimed by relatives of other would-be presidents.

The tomb of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s grandfather was also claimed to have been defaced with human excrement, knives and a lock of hair in May 2021, but the case remained uninspected, as the police were not able to find the alleged evidence.

There was another fuss in 1999 over metal stakes spotted around the graves of the family of Lee Hoi-chang, a former Supreme Court Justice who suffered narrow defeats in presidential elections by former Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Dae-jung.

While the North Gyeongsang Provincial Police has embarked on an investigation, Lee Jae-myung has decided to remove the materials after conducting a simple ceremony, as he was advised not to remove them quickly, according to his social media post.

The Democratic Party urged the police to conduct an immediate investigation into the case on Sunday, saying that the acts constitutes "terrorism against the dead," and that those behind it must be revealed.

By Lim Jae-seong(forestjs@heraldcorp.com)