Man busted for graffiti message to Trump on Gyeongbok Palace wall

A man in his 70s was caught scrawling graffiti about U.S. President Donald Trump on the stone wall of Gwanghwamun in central Seoul and handed over to police.

The Korea Heritage Service said Monday that security spotted the man at around 8:10 a.m. writing on the stone base of Gyeongbok Palace's Gwanghwamun Gate. The message, in black marker, read: “A message to the people and the world, President Trump…” The suspect, a 79-year-old Seoul resident, has not explained his motive. 

The service said it would remove the graffiti the same day with help from the National Palace Museum of Korea. It condemned the act, calling Gyeongbok Palace — one of Seoul's spectacular Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910) royal residences — a major cultural heritage site that must be protected. 

Under the Act on Conservation and Utilization of Cultural Heritage, the service can order those responsible for defacing cultural heritage to restore it to its original state and charge them for the cost.

This is not the first time Gyeongbok Palace has been defaced with graffiti.

In late 2023, a teenage boy spray-painted graffiti on the palace's Yeongchumun Gate and a side gate of the National Palace Museum of Korea after being told he would be paid 3 million won ($2,200) for doing so. Removing the graffiti was estimated to have cost around 131 million won.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]