Police are investigating the possibility that lacquer vandalism and other terrorist acts targeting a Chinese restaurant named "Xi Jinping" in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, were carried out under the direction of a specific mastermind organization.

In particular, the victimized owner reportedly stated that not only Chinese nationals but also dozens of South Korean individuals had visited the restaurant to demand a change of its trade name.

The victimized owner, surnamed A, revealed in an interview with a media outlet, "Starting in July, when news of President Xi's visit spread ahead of the Gyeongju APEC Summit last year, unidentified individuals began demanding that we change the restaurant's name."

Owner A added, "There were 40 to 50 people who made threats over the phone or by visiting in person, and except for one or two ethnic Koreans from China, all of them were South Koreans."

According to owner A, they pressured the owner to change the name with remarks such as, "This could become a diplomatic issue," and "What will the Chairman do if he sees the sign?" They even offered financial compensation if the name was changed.

The restaurant was targeted with black spray-paint vandalism on its sign two months ago as well.

Subsequently, in the early hours of September 24, the first day of the Chuseok holiday, four men broke in and carried out acts of terror by painting over the sign and card payment terminals, and smashing appliances.

Although police identified the four suspects through CCTV analysis, they had already departed the country immediately after the crime.

It was confirmed that all the suspects are Chinese nationals in their 20s to 40s who entered the country on tourist visas and targeted a time during the Chuseok holiday when the restaurant was closed.

Circumstances indicating that the perpetrators filmed the crime scene with their mobile phones were also captured.

This is a detail suspected to show they filmed themselves applying lacquer to the card payment terminals and other items to report to someone.

Police have initiated efforts to track down the suspects through international judicial cooperation while concentrating their investigative capabilities on tracing the mastermind behind the incident.

(Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Lee Eui-seon | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)