A notice posted at Tapgol Park in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Aug. 27 last year, prohibiting activities including board games, smoking, drinking, singing and commercial transactions. [Newsis]
A notice posted at Tapgol Park in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Aug. 27 last year, prohibiting activities including board games, smoking, drinking, singing and commercial transactions. [Newsis]

A man in his 20s who drunkenly hung from a wall at Tapgol Park in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and did pull-ups — breaking roof tiles in the process — has been sentenced to a suspended prison term.

The 24th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Lee Yeong-seon, sentenced the defendant, identified only as A, on July 3 to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, on charges of violating the Act on the Conservation and Utilization of Cultural Heritage, according to legal sources Monday.

A visited Tapgol Park while intoxicated on March 18 and, telling his companions he would show them his pull-up skills, grabbed the top of a wall with both hands. Three or four roof tiles fell and shattered in the process.

A fell to the ground and was caught by police, then indicted on charges of violating the cultural heritage conservation law. Tapgol Park, the country's first modern public park, is a nationally designated heritage site listed as Historic Site No. 354 in 1991.

The Jongno-gu Office billed A about 800,000 won ($539) for the restoration work and has since completed the repairs.

"National designated cultural heritage is a product of our history and tradition — a cultural legacy that reflects the distinctiveness of our culture, the identity of our people and the changes in national life, and must be preserved and passed down in its original form," the court said in its ruling. "The defendant recklessly damaged a nationally designated cultural heritage site while under the influence of alcohol."

However, the court took into account that A admitted to the offense and showed remorse, that the act was impulsive, that the damage was not extensive, and that he had restored the damaged section in accordance with an administrative order.

The ruling became final after A chose not to appeal.


bbo@heraldcorp.com