Ringleader Arrested for Mass Distribution of 'Shirt Room' Flyers Around Gangnam Station

According to Financial News, the ringleader of an organization that scattered large quantities of illegal flyers around Gangnam Station in Seoul has been arrested, after he continued the same offenses in different areas even following an earlier bust.
SMPA announced on the 6th that it arrested and detained ringleader A on January 27 on charges of mass distribution of illegal flyers. This is the first time that the main organizer behind such flyer distribution has been taken into custody.
Investigators found that in 2024 and 2025, A had repeatedly scattered large numbers of illegal flyers bearing sexually suggestive phrases such as "shirt room" in the area around Gangnam Station, and had already been caught by police twice. When enforcement intensified in Gangnam, A is believed to have shifted his activities to Bucheon and Ilsan, where he continued the same scheme.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Morals Crime Investigation Team has, from July last year through February this year, booked a total of eight people, including A and three other flyer distributors, as well as bar owners, employees, and a printing business operator who produced the flyers.
During a search and seizure at the print shop, police discovered evidence that A had commissioned the production of flyers to be distributed in Bucheon and Ilsan in order to evade crackdowns in Gangnam. Determining that there was a risk he might flee and reoffend, investigators obtained an arrest warrant and took him into custody.
Police explained that A’s offenses were habitual and caused significant disruption to residents’ daily lives, which formed the basis for seeking his detention. The remaining seven accomplices will be referred to prosecutors without physical detention.
An SMPA official stated, "We will continue to crack down on the habitual distribution of illegal flyers that threaten everyday safety and damage the city’s appearance," adding, "Our aim is to dismantle the entire chain, from distributors to the brokers who arrange flyer production, the printing businesses, and the clients who place the orders."
jyseo@fnnews.com Seo Ji-yoon Reporter