Stalking Victim in Korea: How Foreign Victims Should Save Evidence and Report

Key Summary

If you are a foreign victim in Korea receiving repeated unwanted messages, calls, visits, gifts, workplace contact, or monitoring, the first step is not to argue with the other person. The first step…

If you are a foreign victim in Korea receiving repeated unwanted messages, calls, visits, gifts, workplace contact, or monitoring, the first step is not to argue with the other person. The first step is to preserve the pattern. Stalking cases in Korea often depend on repeated conduct, fear, context, and whether the victim can show what happened over time.

This article is for foreign victims in Korea who are considering a police report, criminal complaint, victim statement, or request for protection.

In many stalking cases, one message or one visit may not explain the whole risk. Police may need to understand how the contact started, how often it happened, whether you told the person to stop, whether the person ignored your refusal, and how the conduct affected your daily life.

For a foreign victim, there is an additional problem. Your first explanation may be summarized into a Korean police record. If the Korean record does not clearly show repeated contact, fear, refusal, or the full timeline, the case can become harder to understand later.

That is why a timeline is important. For each incident, write:

- date and time - place - method of contact - what was said or done - how you responded - what record proves that incident

Save the records that show both the contact and the repeated pattern:

- complete message threads - call logs - platform usernames and profile pages - photos and videos - delivery or gift records - doorbell, lobby, or building-entry records - CCTV location clues - witness names - prior police calls or report history - messages where you asked the person to stop

Do not rely only on cropped screenshots. Screenshots are useful, but police may later ask for the original conversation, device confirmation, account information, or a wider context. If you delete messages, block access to the original account, or edit files, it may become harder to prove the repeated pattern.

If there was physical approach, workplace contact, home visits, gifts left at your door, or waiting outside your building, write the exact place and whether CCTV may exist. CCTV can disappear quickly, so location and time information should be organized early.

Before going to the police station, organize the facts in order. Do not begin with only your conclusion, such as “I am being stalked.” Prepare the statement around these points:

- how the contact began - when and how you refused contact - what the other person did after refusal - where the person appeared or contacted you - why the conduct caused fear or anxiety - what evidence supports each part

If interpretation is used, make sure words such as “fear,” “refusal,” “repeated contact,” “waiting near my home,” “workplace,” “threat,” and “I told the person to stop” are translated accurately. Small translation differences can affect how the police record reads.

Before signing a Korean statement, ask for the statement to be interpreted back to you if you cannot read Korean. If a sentence is incomplete or inaccurate, ask for correction before signing.

An interpreter helps with language. A Korean criminal lawyer helps with case structure. In a stalking victim case, concrete steps can include:

- Organizing the timeline so it addresses the persistence and repetition elements defined in Article 2 of the Stalking Punishment Act, since a single incident report often fails on the repeated-conduct requirement even when the underlying facts are serious. - Reviewing whether a provisional measure under Article 9 of the Stalking Punishment Act — such as a written warning, a distance restriction, or a ban on electronic contact — should be requested, and preparing that request with the evidence that supports it. - Requesting that a trusted support person accompany you during the police interview under Article 163-2 of the Criminal Procedure Act, where the circumstances support it. - Reviewing the Korean-language victim statement under Article 244(2)-(3) of the Criminal Procedure Act before you sign, and requesting a correction if the Korean sentence understates the repeated contact or your refusal — a right that applies to foreign victims as well. - Preparing the criminal complaint so that each incident is tied to specific evidence, rather than left as a general description.

Doyun Lee assists foreign victims in Korean criminal cases in English and Chinese. For consultation, send the timeline, complete records, suspect information if known, police contact if any, and key evidence to dylee@newlawyer.co.kr.

Q1. Can a foreign victim report stalking in Korea? A. Yes. A foreign victim can report a crime or file a criminal complaint in Korea. The important point is to show the timeline, repeated conduct, refusal, fear, and supporting evidence clearly.

Q2. Should I contact the other person one last time before reporting? A. Usually, repeated emotional contact can create confusion. If you have already made your refusal clear, it is safer to preserve evidence and prepare the complaint instead of continuing arguments.

Q3. Are screenshots enough? A. Screenshots can help, but original messages, account records, device records, CCTV clues, call logs, and witness information may be needed depending on the case.

Q4. What should I send before consultation? A. Send your timeline, complete messages, original evidence, suspect information if known, police contact if any, and key records to dylee@newlawyer.co.kr.

This content is general legal information, not a promise of a specific result. Korean criminal cases should be reviewed based on the exact facts and records.

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Attorney Doyun Lee, a KBA-certified criminal law specialist, reviews criminal matters directly. Remote representation is available nationwide in Korea.