How to Handle When You are Criminally Charged in Korea

One day, you suddenly get a call from the police telling you that you are charged with a criminal offense. Now, you are requested to attend an investigation at a police station. What should you do?

Many people just panic in a situation like this and attend the investigation immediately as requested. However, we advise you refrain from doing that.

Followings are the steps that we advise you to take when you are criminally charged in Korea, to avoid any unfair criminal punishment without having the proper preparation and assistance you shall need.

1. Coordination of the Investigation Schedules

Unless you are arrested with a warrant, the investigation schedule is entitled to be adjusted. You do not need to unilaterally meet the schedule that the police requests, and you may postpone the investigation according to the time that suits you better. Since you will definitely need time to prepare for the investigation for your favor, we advise you not to head to the police station immediately just because you are requested to attend the investigation right away.

You may take at least two weeks to a month when coordinating the investigation schedule with the police.

2. Request of the Information Disclosure

It is worthwhile to note that the police would not share with you exactly with what crime you are charged with beforehand. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to request for a prior information disclosure, because through this procedure you may learn the charges you have been accused with before the police investigation.

The request of information disclosure could also be made through the internet and usually takes up to 10 days.

3. Preparation of the Investigation

If you know what charges you have been accused of through a request of information disclosure, it is time to prepare a counterargument.

If there is anything different from the fact in the criminal complaint, you may organize and secure relevant evidence in advance and present it to the police to close the investigation in a timely manner.

It is important to maintain a consistent attitude even if there is no evidence. Otherwise, you shall lose the credibility of your own statements especially when they are inconsistent and changed throughout the investigation process. Therefore, it is very important to decide on what position that you shall maintain, at the very beginning of the investigation.

However, it is never easy to communicate with the police alone, to request information disclosure, and to prepare for a proper legal response. Mis-response could lead to unjust punishment. Therefore, we advise you to respond actively with the assistance of an attorney from the very beginning stage of the investigation. For any assistance with this regard, please contact us for further information. Thank you.