Blog, Criminal

Domestic Violence is a pretty common crime in South Korea as statistics show that one out of six couples in Korea had some sort of episode of physical violence from their spouse. This article will give you a brief overview of domestic violence in Korea, what to do if you are a domestic violence victim, how to hire a divorce lawyer or a domestic violence defense lawyer and much more.

What Is Domestic Violence?

Domestic violence, also known as intimate partner violence, occurs when a person intentionally harms their romantic partner. Hitting or physical violence is known as being the most common form of domestic violence, but it can also include non-physical abuse such as control, sexual abuse, emotional abuse & intimidation, isolation, verbal abuse (coercion, threats & blame), using male privilege, and economic abuse. All these types of abuse hurt the victims’ bodies and minds. 

Domestic Violence in Korea

In South Korean culture, domestic violence is very often regarded as a private family issue and incidents are frequently left unreported. Statistics say that 50% of cases are not reported to the police as the victims see it as a “family matter”. 

In 2020 the police charged 9858 people for domestic violence and of all those cases, 9682 victims were women.

A study conducted in 2015 by Korean Institute of Criminology, randomly sampled 4000 Koreans about domestic violence incidents. 71.7% of women reported that there have been incidents of “being controlled” by a male partner, 36.6% felt psychological or emotional violence, 22.4% felt physical violence, 37.9% felt sexual harassment or misdemeanor, 17.5% felt sexual violence, and 8.7% felt physical injury. 

Korean Domestic Violence Laws

In the old days, domestic violence used to be covered and punished by ordinary Criminal Act of Korea. But it didn’t really help stopping the domestic violence, so the need to create a new law specialized only for domestic violence emerged.

In 1998, two domestic violence laws were introduced. Namely the ‘Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Crimes of Domestic Violence’(which is called “Act on Punishment of Domestic Violence” in short) and the ‘Act on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Protection, etc. of Victims’(which is called “Act on Prevention of Domestic Violence” in short). The first one is for the punishment of crimes of domestic violence and the latter one serves as a preventative law against crimes of domestic violence and to protect victims of domestic violence. 

What To Do If You Are a Victim of Domestic Violence in South Korea

If you are a victim of domestic violence, there are a couple of things you can do. We’ll go over them one by one. 

1. Contact A Help Line

The first step you can take and should take in emergencies is to contact an emergency hotline. They can offer you protection, counselling, reporting to the police, transferring victims to the hospital or a shelter.

• Women’s hotline: 1366
• Men’s hotline: 02-2653-1366
• Korean Legal Aid Center for Family Relations: 1644-7077
• Foreign language hotline: 1577-1366 (Vietnamese, Chinese, Tagalog, Khmer, Cambodian, Uzbek, Mongolian, Russian, Thai, Japanese, English, Nepalese, Laos).

In 16 cities around Korea, the government established emergency Women’s Crisis Hotlines (phone number 1366). The centers operate 24/7 and counselling is available in 8 different languages. These emergency hotline centers help 160,000 women a year with counselling, protection, urgent services for domestic violence, sexual violence, and forced prostitution. 

2. Filling a Police Report

When the Korean police receive a report from a victim or a hotline center regarding domestic violence, they will act based on Article 5 of “Act on Punishment of Domestic Violence” and Article 9-4 of “Act on Prevention of Domestic Violence.”

Article 5 (Emergency Measures against Criminal Domestic Violence)

Upon receipt of a report on any ongoing crime of domestic violence, a judicial police officer shall arrive at the scene of the crime, without delay, and take any of the following measures:

• • • To restrain violence, isolate domestic violence offenders from victims, and conduct an investigation of the crime
    • To refer the victims to domestic violence counselling centers or shelters (limited to the cases where victims agree thereto)
    • To refer the victims requiring emergency treatment to medical institutions
    • To notify that they are entitled to apply for ad hoc measures under Article 8 in the case of repeated violence.

Article 9-4 (Dispatch of Judicial Police Officers to Scene)

1. 1. 1. A judicial police officer shall visit the scene of domestic violence without delay if a domestic violence offense report is received.
      2. A judicial police officer who responds to a domestic violence offense report pursuant to paragraph (1) may visit the reported scene of domestic violence to protect victims or visit relevant places to inspect relevant persons or ask them questions for investigation of such case.
      3. No domestic violence assailant shall obstruct the duties of a judicial police officer, such as rejecting on-site investigations by the judicial police officer under paragraph (2).
      4. A judicial police officer who enters a scene of domestic violence, investigates a case or asks questions pursuant to paragraph (2) shall carry a certificate indicating his or her authority and produce it to interested parties.
      5. When making an onsite visit under paragraph (1), the head of an investigative agency may request the head of an emergency hotline center, counselling center or shelter to accompany to the scene of domestic violence, and the head of an emergency hotline center, counselling center or shelter who receives such request shall dispatch an affiliated counsellor to the scene of domestic violence, in the absence of special circumstances.
      6. A judicial police officer who investigates a case of domestic violence or asks questions pursuant to paragraph (2) shall take necessary measures, such as interviewing the victim, reporter, witness, etc. in a place separate from the domestic violence assailant so that the person may freely make a statement, etc.

If domestic violence is likely to be repeated, the prosecutor or police in charge can request “ad hoc measures” to the court.

Article 8 (Request for Ad Hoc Measures, etc.) 

1. 1. 1. Where a prosecutor deems that criminal domestic violence is likely to recur, he/she may make a request for ad hoc measures prescribed in Article 29 (1) 1, 2 or 3 to the court, either ex officio or upon request by a judicial public officer.
      2. Where a prosecutor deems that a domestic violence offender is likely to repeat such criminal domestic violence in violation of ad hoc measures determined upon request under paragraph (1), the prosecutor may make a request for ad hoc measures prescribed in Article 29 (1) 5 to the court, either ex officio or upon request by a judicial public officer. 
      3. In cases falling under paragraphs (1) and (2), a victim or his/her legal representative may request a prosecutor or judicial public officer to make a request for ad hoc measures under paragraphs (1) and (2), file such application, or present his/her opinions thereon. 
      4. Where a judicial public officer, upon receipt of a request under paragraph (3), fails to request ad hoc measures under paragraphs (1) and (2), he/she shall report the grounds therefor to the prosecutor. [This Article Wholly Amended by Act No. 10573, Apr. 12, 2011] 

Requesting ad hoc through court can take a long time. Therefore, in case the police officer in charge of the report finds it necessary to request urgent ad hoc measures, they can immediately apply for “urgent ad hoc measures” to the prosecutor. They will file the request and process it within 48 hours. 

Article 8-2 (Urgent Ad Hoc Measures) 

1. 1. 1. Notwithstanding the emergency measures under Article 5, where criminal domestic violence is likely to recur and ad hoc measures determined by a court are not available due to its urgency, a judicial police officer may take any measure prescribed in Article 29 (1) 1 through 3 (hereinafter referred to as “urgent ad hoc measure”), either ex officio or upon the request of a victim or his/her legal representative. 
      2. When a judicial police officer has taken urgent ad hoc measures under paragraph (2), he/she shall promptly prepare a written decision thereon. 
      3. A written decision on urgent ad hoc measures under paragraph (2) shall include a summary of the crime and grounds therefore, etc.

Ad hoc measures are only temporary and cannot exceed more than a couple of months depending on the severity of the measures. These measures can result in the following:

• Eviction, etc. from a room, in which the victim or family members live, or a room occupied thereby, to isolate the offender from the victim
• A restraining order to stay at least 100 meters away from the residence or place of work of the victim or family members
• A ban on approaching the victim or family members through telecommunications under subparagraph 1 of Article 2 of the Framework Act on Telecommunications
• Admitting the offender into a medical institution or intermediate care center
• Confining the offender in a detention center or room of any state police station.

3. Get Legal Aid

Once you have contacted the hotline and filed a police report, you can get legal aid if you want to take things further. There are several routes you can take, including filling for home protection, divorce, or filing for a criminal case. It is highly recommended to hire a lawyer to help you with your case. Aaron Hwang from Seoul Law Group is an experienced criminal and divorce lawyer, who can help you get the best outcome of the case for you and your visa. 

3.1 Home Protection Case

If you are the victim of domestic violence but you don’t want the perpetrator to be punished, you could request your case to be handled as a home protection case instead of a criminal case. If the crime can be classified as “chingojoe (친고죄)” or “banuisabulbeoljoe (반의사불벌죄) and the victim clearly indicates that they do not want the perpetrator to be punished, the judge will handle the case as a home protection case. 

Home Protection Cases are handled by Family Court instead of the criminal court. The Family Court doesn’t sentence the perpetrator with any punishment, but it can impose a protective order which can result in one of the following:

• Restrictions on offender’s access to the victims or family members
• Restrictions on offender’s access to the victims or family members through telecommunications
• Restrictions on offender’s exercise of parental authority over the victims, in case the offender is the victim’s parent
• Order for community service or a lecture
• Probation
• Entrustment of the custody of offenders to facilities
• Entrustment of the treatment of offenders to medical institutions
• Entrustment of the counseling for offenders to counseling centers

3.2 Divorce

Extreme maltreatment is one of the legal grounds for divorce by trial in Korea. The South Korean Supreme Court interpreted “extreme maltreatment” as being “Violence, abuse, or insult, severe enough that continuing the marriage is cruel to the victim.”

In case you want to get a divorce by trial due to domestic violence, it is highly recommended to hire a Korean divorce lawyer to help you with all the paperwork and to get the best possible outcome for you and your visa. 

It can take several months for the Korean family court to process your case and to issue a divorce decree, and longer if there are other marriage issues to solve, such as property division or child support. 

3.3 Criminal Case

In case of severe domestic violence, you can take the case to criminal court. Together with your lawyer, you will have to prepare your case for the police investigation and finally the trial. During the trial, both the victim and defendant will be able to present evidence. It is vital to gather as much evidence as you can as insufficient evidence is one of the fastest ways to get your domestic violence case dismissed.

Domestic Violence Defense Lawyer

When domestic violence charges are brought up against you, instantly contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer. Your lawyer will help you with your case by evaluating the police report and claims, and prepare your defense for the best possible outcome for you and your visa. 

Domestic Violence Cases

Below is an overview of different domestic violence cases and the outcome of the case. For privacy reasons, the names of the victims and perpetrators were left out. 

Woman A was in a relationship for 10 years with Man A. Over the years, domestic physical violence slowly increased. Man A got drunk frequently and abused his wife until one day he broke one of her bones. Woman A hired a lawyer and managed to receive compensation of 30 million KRW for the injuries and obtained a divorce decree. 

Woman B and Man B got into an argument at home. Man B picked up a bottle and poured beer on woman B. He then picked up the beer cap and threw it in her face, resulting in injuries on the face. Woman B claimed compensation for her damage from Man B, and the court ordered him to pay one million KRW as compensation.

Woman C and Man C were drinking alcohol at home. When Woman C asked Man C to put their child in bed, he got annoyed as he didn’t want to stop playing his mobile phone game. He took out a bamboo sword and hit Woman c and child on the back and arms. He also hit Woman c on the neck, face, and head using his fists. He was sentenced to 8 months in prison.

Woman D and Man D got into an argument whilst in the car about sharing details of their personal life with neighbours or remodelling workers. He ended up slapping woman D three on the head with his right hand. When they got home the assault continued and he threw a glass lotion bottle to the head of the victim which cut her. He then continued to stab her with a mechanical pencil. Woman D’s injuries were treated for 2 weeks. Man D got sentenced to 6 months in prison. 

Frequently Asked Questions