Blog, Criminal, Divorce

Were you aware that it’s quite common to unintentionally become involved in criminal activity during divorce proceedings?

Unauthorized access to another person’s devices or accounts constitutes a violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (정보통신망 이용촉진 및 정보보호 등에 관한 법률) and the Protection of Communications Secrets Act (통신비밀보호법), even when that person is your own spouse. This includes:

• Example 1: Secretly unlocking your spouse’s phone to check for evidence of an affair
• Example 2: Viewing or taking screenshots of your spouse’s KakaoTalk or text messages without their consent
• Example 3: Accessing your spouse’s email account without permission and reading their messages
• Example 4: Secretly copying or sending photos or files saved by your spouse

You’ll find that these criminal violations can occur more easily than you might expect. Not only the transmission of data, but also accessing information using patterns or passwords observed from your spouse’s daily habits, or even attempting to view such information, are all subject to criminal penalties.

Divorce Strategy vs Consequences: Rising Cost of Privacy Violations

In some cases, Koreans may choose to strategically accept penalties, such as fines, if they believe the benefits of winning the case outweigh the consequences. If you could prove your spouse’s infidelity by snooping through their text messages, wouldn’t you be willing to pay a small fine in return? However, a recent high-profile case has significantly changed this perception: a lawyer was sentenced to six months in prison and taken into custody for secretly accessing a subordinate’s KakaoTalk conversations, and the sentence was upheld on appeal.

Furthermore, foreign nationals need to be more cautious when weighing their options, as legal violations can lead to risks such as visa revocation or deportation. Even if their residency status remains unaffected, many jobs in Korea require criminal background checks for foreign residents. Making any criminal record can be potentially devastating. This is especially true in fields such as language teaching, education, and healthcare, where background checks are mandatory.

Privacy Breach Undermining a Smooth Divorce

In our previous post, we described how our SLG team helped Mina, who had initially received nothing due to divorce fraud, successfully obtained 102,000,000 KRW in property division, 25,000,000 KRW in compensation, and 1,200,000 KRW in monthly child support. (Before the trial, her ex-husband had even defaulted on his promised monthly child support of 300,000 KRW!)

However, Mina faced another challenge when her ex-husband filed criminal charges against her for submitting evidence of his infidelity that she had discovered on his phone.

What Are Legally Protected Secrets?

The Information and Communications Protection Act prohibits the invasion and misuse of others’ secrets (Article 49). The Supreme Court interprets ‘secrets’ as ‘facts that are not generally known and which benefit the individual by remaining undisclosed.’ Acts of infidelity clearly fall under this category of secrets. This is said to be the most common violation prosecuted in evidence collection cases.

Submitting such evidence to the Court essentially amounts to a self-confession of violating the law. As a result, it is quite common for individuals to face criminal charges when the opposing party uses their own evidence submission against them.

SLG Fixed Other Law Firms’ Fatal Mistakes

In Mina’s case, her previous law firm had advised her to submit the evidence. As a schoolteacher, however, she suddenly found herself at risk of losing her career, because the convicts are not allowed to teach children in Korean schools. This illustrates why lawyers must consider their clients’ circumstances comprehensively. After all, clients naturally trust their legal representatives’ advice when they lack such specialized knowledge.

In a situation where Mina had already proven her own criminal act by submitting KakaoTalk screenshots to court, SLG achieved the best possible yet extremely difficult outcome – a suspended sentence.

Winning the Unattainable: Securing the Ultimate Suspended Imposition

The Korean judicial system has three types of suspension: suspended execution of sentence (집행유예), suspended imposition of sentence (선고유예), and suspended prosecution (기소유예). While these terms may sound similar in Korean due to the shared word “유예 (suspension),” they are entirely different concepts. Among these, suspended execution of sentence leaves a criminal record, while both suspended imposition of sentence and suspended prosecution allow the record to be expunged after a certain period.

Among these three, suspended imposition of sentence is the rarest and most difficult to obtain. The defendant is acknowledged to be guilty. Yet the judge uses their sole discretion to exempt them from punishment, essentially setting aside or departing from previous legal precedents. This makes it a particularly burdensome decision for the judge to make. 

However, SLG secured a suspended imposition of sentence through multiple strategies: persuading Mina’s malicious husband to submit a letter of leniency by appealing to his self-interest, helping the judge deeply empathize with Mina’s situation, and submitting a sincere letter of remorse.

Conclusion: Can a Lawyer Change Your Life?

Consider how dramatically Mina’s life has changed after consulting with SLG attorneys. She had nearly lost her career due to the hasty advice from another law firm. Now, she continues her professional life with no criminal record, living happily with her beloved son.

With extensive experience in international cases, we at SLG meticulously manage even the smallest details that others might miss, ensuring we protect our clients’ rights and future until the very end.