![The Western part of the Gyeongbok Palace's walls have been vandalized with spray paint graffiti early Saturday morning. [YONHAP]](https://undergroundartreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/6268b2ff-f459-4bcf-92d0-c338d8d2b49d.jpg)
The Western part of the Gyeongbok Palace’s walls have been vandalized with spray paint graffiti early Saturday morning. [YONHAP]
![The Western part of the Gyeongbok Palace's walls have been vandalized with spray paint graffiti early Saturday morning. [YONHAP]](https://undergroundartreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/8c9aa520-13f6-4d15-9d70-82554a7da421.jpg)
The Western part of the Gyeongbok Palace’s walls have been vandalized with spray paint graffiti early Saturday morning. [YONHAP]
The Cultural Heritage Administration said Saturday that it will promptly restore a section of the Gyeongbok Palace’s wall that was vandalized with spray paint graffiti.
The graffiti, spray painted in red and blue in Korean, was noticed by a resident walking through the area at around 2:20 a.m. The resident reported it to the police and the police said it has been tracking down the suspect by analyzing the CCTV footage. The police said the suspect began spray painting the wall at around 1:50 a.m.
Phrases “free movie” as well as a website address to what looks like an illegal streaming site, were spray painted repeatedly on both sides of the Western gate of the Gyeongbok Palace, known as Yeongchumun. The total length of the vandalized area spans about 44 meters, the administration said.
![A researcher from the Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center tries to wipe off the graffiti on the wall of the Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul on Saturday. [YONHAP]](https://undergroundartreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/5ea8cea6-a59a-4099-be83-29d163fc6c11.jpg)
A researcher from the Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center tries to wipe 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]](https://undergroundartreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cb22ce3d-dfea-45fb-8a59-b350e66b25e4.jpg)
A temporary screen has been set up to cover up the graffiti on Saturday. [NEWS1]
The administration installed a screen to cover up the graffiti on Saturday afternoon and has been working with the 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,” said an official from the administration. “Therefore, we are working together with the Jongno Police to track down the suspect and will make sure they get punished for violating the Cultural Properties Protection Law.”
The administration also said it will install more CCTVs around the Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul.
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]