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Graffiti of former President Park Chung-hee with a chicken beak

Since the end of last year, graffiti satirizing President Park Geun-hye has been appearing in Daegu. No one drew graffiti lampooning the president during the administrations of former presidents Roh Moo-hyun (2003-2008) and Lee Myung-bak (2008-2013), but this kind of graffiti keeps showing up in Daegu, where President Park has a strong support base.

The first time that satirical graffiti appeared in Daegu was on Nov. 6 of last year. Graffiti making fun of President Park’s father and former president Park Chung-hee (in office 1961-1979) was drawn in five sites on Dongseong Street in the Jung district of Daegu. The graffiti consisted of pictures of the face of Park Chung-hee with a chicken beak attached to it and the words “PAPA CHICKEN” underneath it.

found in Daegu on Nov. 6

As luck would have it, one of the five sites of graffiti was a notice board at the site of the former home of Park Chung-hee (25 Dongseong Street 5-gil, Jung District, Daegu), which is supervised by the Jung District of Daegu. The same graffiti appeared on an outdoor stage on Dongseong Street, Jung District, Daegu.

Noticing the graffiti, a district employee informed the police, who launched an investigation.

The person who drew the graffiti was a university student surnamed Kim, 21, who went by the moniker of Fugazi. When the prosecutors took over the case, they charged Kim with destruction of property and made a summary judgment, ordering him to pay a fine of 1 million won (US$890). But Kim insisted on a full trial, arguing that his graffiti was protected by the freedom of artistic expression.

On Apr. 8, groups representing the fields of culture and art, civic society, and human rights held a press conference in front of the Daegu Local Court, calling for the authorities to defend the freedom of expression and clear Kim of charges.

But on May 15, Kim Do-hyeong, a criminal judge for the court, found Kim guilty of destroying property and fined him 1 million won.

One month later, on June 18, graffiti parodying President Park appeared once again, this time at six sites on the walls of buildings near the Daegu Department Store, also on Dongseong Street in the Jung neighborhood of Daegu.

In the graffiti, President Park is wearing a crown, and the words “PLEASE” and “GRIND” are written over her eyes and mouth. The graffiti imitates the cover of an album by the British rock group Sex Pistols that was released in June 2012. The title song of the album is “God Save the Queen.”

A pedestrian passing by reported the graffiti to the police, who were dispatched to the scene and erased all of the graffiti. Legally speaking, this was “destruction of property,” but the police had little trouble restoring it to normal.

The police collected footage from security cameras that were installed in the area and are looking for the person who drew the graffiti.

Typically, destruction of property is dealt with in civil court. It is very uncommon for the victim to take the case to the police. Even when the police are brought in, they generally try to help the two sides settle the issue through a civil case.

There are few examples of the police jumping into an investigation when the victim has not filed a complaint or pushed for action as in these two cases.

“We never used to have any graffiti in Daegu. The reason we keep seeing it now is because young artists instinctively feel that society today is unnatural and abnormal. They were expressing those feelings through graffiti. If the police overreact each time it happens with these investigations, it will have a chilling effect on the freedom of artistic expression,” said Han Sang-hun, secretary general of the Daegu Artist’s Association.

By Kim Il-woo, Daegu correspondent

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