Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Author of graffiti insulting Obama caught
By Kim Rahn
Police apprehended a man suspected of having painted graffiti denouncing the U.S. President Barack Obama on the U.S. Embassy wall in central Seoul.
Jongno Police Station said Wednesday that they caught the 37-year-old man, surnamed Lee, who allegedly sprayed abusive words on the embassy wall at dawn on Saturday. The writing was insulting toward the American president, police said, not disclosing details.
Police identified Lee through surveillance camera recordings installed around the embassy. They caught him at around 6 p.m. Tuesday near Duncheon Station in southeastern Seoul.
Lee, a jobless man who lives in a studio apartment near the station, has received treatment for mental instability.
“He said he was sleeping in his home and was under an auditory hallucination that someone suddenly swore at him in English. He thought he had to get revenge by defacing the U.S. Embassy,” a police officer said.
Lee then took a cab, stopped near the embassy, and painted the graffiti, police said.
“He is suspected of damaging property and we are interrogating him about the exact motivation for the offense. We will investigate him without physical detention, considering he suffers from mental problems and acted alone,” the officer said.