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Man who told student to vandalize Gyeongbok Palace sentenced for money laundering

Published: 16 Apr. 2025, 09:16 Updated: 17 Apr. 2025, 15:55

A man surnamed Kang who ordered the vandalizing of Gyeongbok Palace attends his court hearing at Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul on May 25, 2024. [YONHAP]

A man who ordered a high school student to vandalize the walls of Gyeongbok Palace received an additional year in prison for laundering criminal proceeds, according to reports on Wednesday.

The Seoul Central District Court sentenced the man, surnamed Kang and known as “Team Leader Lee” among his accomplices, on April 9 to one year in prison for violating the Act on Regulation and Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment, according to legal sources on Wednesday.

He was previously given a seven-year prison sentence last December for instructing a high school student to vandalize the Gyeongbok Palace walls in central Seoul.

Three accomplices who helped launder Kang's criminal gains in exchange for a fee also received suspended prison sentences.

“The purpose of the defendants’ crimes was to conceal criminal proceeds obtained by Kang,” the court stated. “The amount laundered was significant, totaling 250 million won [$175,000], and the defendants committed the crimes while on probation or despite having multiple prior convictions resulting in prison terms.”

From December 2023 to May 2024, Kang laundered a total of 255.2 million won earned by posting advertisements for illegal gambling websites on his illegal video-sharing site. The court found him guilty of laundering the 243.2 million won of the amount.

Graffiti is seen on the left and right sections of Yeongchumun of Gyeongbok Palace in Jongno District in central Seoul on Dec. 17, 2023. [NEWS1]

Kang had accomplices that he had met via Telegram open chat rooms, who received gambling advertisement fees through bank accounts under borrowed names. The funds were then either withdrawn as cash or used to purchase cryptocurrency, which was then returned to Kang.

Kang was previously sentenced to seven years in prison in December last year for instructing a 17-year-old high school student and others he met via Telegram to spray graffiti on the wall of Gyeongbok Palace to promote his illegal website in 2023.

The high school student was convicted of violating the Cultural Heritage Protection Act. He was sentenced to two years in prison.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY KIM EUN-BIN [[email protected]]