"They Are Different from Street Punks"... Four Bows for Four Bosses

[Anchor]

Some 40 gang members who formed an organization claiming to succeed the notorious 1950s political gangster Lee Jeong-jae's "Dongdaemun faction" and repeatedly engaged in group brawls were recently arrested by police. Police explained that these individuals are "different from ordinary thugs."

Let us take a closer look at the details in this report by Videomug's Jo Gi-ho.

[Reporter]

A group suddenly lines up in front of an elevator.

Wondering what kind of greeting they are doing while keeping time to a beat,

[Bae Eun-chul / Inspector, 2nd Investigation Division, Metropolitan Crime Investigation Unit, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency: Are they taking the elevator? They don't just do it once. They do it four times, because there are four people riding.]

It turns out they were members of the so-called "Dongdaemun faction," bowing four times because four bosses got on the elevator.

Having recruited top middle and high school fighters since 2017 to expand their influence, and allied with friendly organizations such as the Sanggye, Itaewon, and Eagles factions to engage in group brawls with rival groups—while even turning a first-birthday party banquet hall into a formal suit runway—they were also found to have set up a voice phishing camp in Qingdao, China, to commit crimes, alongside recent signs of opening a stock investment leading room office.

Amidst such busy activities, there were strict codes of conduct they had to follow.

Superiors must be called "boss," and you must append "as you say" to your responses!

Members must also get the organization's name tattooed—ah, this member with bare skin joined today, so he hasn't gotten it yet.

While they had to designate members to take turns visiting imprisoned associates to offer comfort, one striking phrase stands out:

"Succeeding the spirit of Lee Jeong-jae."

The Dongdaemun faction, led by prominent political gangster Lee Jeong-jae who was active in the 1950s and 1960s, was dismantled during the "War on Crime" in 1990, only to be re-formed in 1996 by local thugs who claimed they would succeed them.

And now, it has been proven that these individuals bowing four times in the elevator are a "continuous association" with the organization formed in 1996. A total of 40 people, including 21 members of the Dongdaemun faction and 19 members of other allied violent groups, have been arrested on charges including violations of the Act on the Punishment of Violent Acts, etc.

[Bae Eun-chul / Inspector, 2nd Investigation Division, Metropolitan Crime Investigation Unit, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency: Usually, kids with some tattoos fight, and beyond these routine kids hitting each other, when someone extorts others and things like that happen, they get the title of organized crime and are actually exposed a lot in the media, but strictly speaking, that's not really the case. They are closer to thugs or street punks. What makes this case different is that it holds great significance because the existence of a violent criminal organization has been proven.]

In particular, it was revealed that they lived together in shared housing and operated as an "emergency strike force" that would line up like a folding screen to display their strength during organizational events or dispatch immediately if a fight broke out with another group.

Proving that they were not mere thugs but a criminal syndicate required a complex process involving 95 records spanning about 25,000 pages.

[Bae Eun-chul / Inspector, 2nd Investigation Division, Metropolitan Crime Investigation Unit, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency: What is the significance of uncovering this? Once uncovered, simply joining the group adds to their sentence. They are punished very severely. Then what else does it mean? Clearly, the reason they do things like that is money, money. So what do they do with that money? It all comes from illegal businesses. Ultimately, innocent citizens suffer. Therefore, there is a need to raise awareness about this.]

An invitation made to commemorate the 65th anniversary of political gangster Lee Jeong-jae's death.

However, with even the Chinese character for Lee Jeong-jae's name misspelled on it, who exactly are they following and how?

No matter how young these MZ-generation gangsters may be, one can only hope that blind admiration or curiosity will not ruin not only the lives of others, but their own as well.

(Producer : Lee Se-mi | Editing : Chae Ji-won | Design : Chae Ji-woo | Narration : Jo Gi-ho | Production : Knowledge Contents IP Team)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.