Restoration of the Gyeongbok Palace wall, which was damaged by the “spray scribble terror attack” in December last year, has been completed. With the restoration cost estimated to be more than 100 million won (about 9.8 million U.S. dollars) alone, the Cultural Heritage Administration plans to seek compensation from the scribes and their families.
The Cultural Heritage Administration announced the plan on the 4th by revealing the restoration of the Gyeongbokgung Palace fence damaged by spray graffiti.
The Cultural Heritage Administration said, “We will respond strongly by claiming a total of more than 100 million won for damages to Gyeongbokgung wall scribblers in that even a scribble from a light heart can seriously affect the national heritage.”
According to the Cultural Heritage Administration, about 80 percent of the entire restoration process for the Gyeongbok Palace wall has been completed. If the wall is worked too hard in winter, it could affect the wall, so the conservation process will be completed after April after examining the surface condition for a while.
The section of the Gyeongbokgung Palace fence “Scribble Terror,” which occurred twice last month, totaled 36.2m.
The left and right sides of the Yeongchumun Gate in the west of Gyeongbokgung Palace and the left and right sides of the side gate around the National Palace Museum were covered with red-blue spray.
It turned out that the first was scribbled by a teenage man, and the second was scribbled by a man in his 20s.
A total of 234 people were deployed for eight days, an average of about 30 people a day, and specialized equipment such as laser washers were also deployed for the recovery work caused by the two graffiti.
The total cost of goods to erase the graffiti marks is 21.53 million won. Considering the “production based on the cost of repairing cultural properties” used to calculate the price of manpower or equipment in the cultural property sector, their daily wage is calculated at 310,000 won.
“Considering the labor and material costs of the professional manpower in charge of preservation processing and the direct repair team in charge of installing the screen, the total cost is estimated to be around 100 million won,” said Ko Jeong-joo, head of Gyeongbok Palace Management. “We will seek damages from teenagers caught (by police), additional criminals, and accomplices who have not yet been arrested while watching the investigation.”
I’m also considering charging my parents because my main writer is a minor.
If a claim for damages is made, it will be the first to be applied since the revision of the Cultural Heritage Protection Act in 2020. Previously, orders to recover or criminal punishment were the main ones.
SALLY
ASIA JOURNAL
