”Team Leader Lee,” the operator who caused graffiti on the walls of Gyeongbokgung Palace, was arrested in South Korea.

Last year, a man in his 30s spray-painted graffiti on the walls of Gyeongbokgung Palace, a national cultural property of South Korea, with promotional slogans reminiscent of illegal streaming sites. On the 22nd of this month, five months after the incident,
He was arrested by the police. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Cyber Investigation Unit announced on the 23rd that he was arrested on charges of damage or concealment under the Cultural Property Protection Act, violation of the Copyright Act, dissemination of obscene material under the Information and Communications Network Act, and distribution of pornographic material under the Minor Sexual Protection Act.
The police announced the previous day that they had arrested a 30-year-old man, Mr. A, on suspicion of distributing sexually exploitative material. The suspect is the operator of an illegal streaming site, and it has been revealed that he committed the crime to promote the site.
Mr. A, who was also known as “Team Leader Lee” and ran an illegal streaming site, persuaded Lim (18) and Kim (17) by saying, “If you graffiti, I’ll give you 3 million won.”
Police have secured evidence that Mr. A ordered the crimes to be committed in order to promote the website he runs.
He is also suspected of operating a distribution site and posting child sexual exploitation material. In December last year, under the instructions of Mr. A, Lim and his associates attacked Yeongchumun Gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace, Somun Gate near the National Palace Museum, and the Dongdaemun Gate of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.
The words "Free movies" and other phrases reminiscent of illegal video-sharing sites were spray-painted on the gate wall over a distance of about 30 metres.
Police plan to apply for an arrest warrant for Mr. A and investigate the specific motive and circumstances of the crime.
The Korea National Heritage Administration said on the same day, "We estimated the cost of restoring the Gyeongbokgung Palace walls through an appraisal agency and found that it would cost about 150 million won (about 17 million yen), including value-added tax."
These expenses were covered by the restoration work that was caused by a copycat crime committed by a man in his 20s, following the damage caused by Lim and his group to the walls of Gyeongbokgung Palace with spray paint graffiti.
The agency plans to file a civil lawsuit against them.