Vandalism Raises Concern over Korean Subway Safety | Be Korea-savvy

Vandalism Raises Concern over Korean Subway Safety


Two foreigners broke into a Daegu subway station at night and spray-painted graffiti on a train car. (image: Daegu Metropolitan Transit Corp.)

Two foreigners broke into a Daegu subway station at night and spray-painted graffiti on a train car. (image: Daegu Metropolitan Transit Corp.)

DAEGU, May 27 (Korea Bizwire)After two foreign nationals reportedly broke into a Daegu subway station at night and spray-painted graffiti on a train car, Korean subways are being criticized for lax security measures.

According to the Suseong Police Station in Daegu, Greek and German nationals in their twenties, who arrived in Korea on May 7, broke into a subway station and sprayed a word on a car.

The German male is also known to have left graffiti on a car at Sinnonhyeon Station in Seoul in March.

Even without any floor plans, the two men entered the station through a ventilation window whose lock was easily broken by a simple apparatus.

The police have currently issued an arrest warrant for the suspects and have even launched a joint investigation with Interpol.

An Jae-Gyeong, chief of the crime department with the Suseong police, said that he thinks that Daegu’s Subway has a rather slack security system, as personnel at the station had no idea about the illegal break-in until the graffiti was found the next morning.

It was earlier reported that Spanish, Romanian and Latvian nationals were arrested by the Korean police for leaving graffiti on subway cars in Incheon, Ansan and Seoul starting from 2013.

The police said that due to Korea’s lack of graffiti-related punishment history, some foreigners happen to see the Korean Subway as an easy target for vandalism.

By J. W. Choi (summerchoi@koreabizwire.com)

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