By Kim Rahn
A local court Thursday issued an arrest warrant for a man, surnamed Hyeon, who allegedly forged paintings of artist Lee U-fan and fled to Japan.
Hyeon was caught in Japan last month through collaboration of Korean and Japanese police authorities, and was extradited to Korea on Tuesday in police custody.
Korean police started their investigation last year following tips that fake paintings of Lee’s “From Point” and “From Line” series were sold for billions of won through some galleries in Insa-dong between 2012 and 2013.
Police raided several galleries and booked two gallery owners without detention. They secured some 10 art pieces, which were sold as paintings by Lee, and had them appraised by experts who concluded they were forgeries.
Police also found that the certificate of authenticity for one of Lee’s paintings, which was sold for 490 million won in December 2015, was forged. The authenticity of the painting itself is under appraisal.