Written by Attorney Soobin You — a former prosecutor licensed in Korea, now representing clients in criminal cases with consultations available in English.
Quick answer: Yes. A foreign national can report a crime in Korea, in person at a police station or in writing, and there is no requirement to be a Korean citizen or a long-term resident. But Korean law distinguishes three things that English collapses into the single word “report”: 신고 (reporting an incident), 고소 (a formal complaint by the victim) and 고발 (a report by someone who is not the victim). Which one you make can affect your legal position in the steps that follow — including what you are able to do if the police decide not to send the case to the prosecution.
That distinction is not a technicality. It changes what you are told and what options remain open to you later. Many foreign victims we meet reported the incident correctly and only discovered months afterwards that the route they took limited what they could do next.
신고, 고소, 고발 — three different acts
신고 is reporting an incident: the call to 112, or telling an officer that something has happened. It brings the police to the matter. On its own it does not establish you as a complainant in the proceedings that may follow.
고소 is a formal criminal complaint made by the victim, or by a person entitled under the law to act for the victim. It identifies an offence, names a suspect where one is known, and asks that the person be punished. It places you in the position of complainant.
고발 is a report made by a third party who is not the victim. It can start an investigation. It does not carry the same standing in every later step — a difference that becomes concrete further down this article.
How a criminal complaint is actually filed
Article 237(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act provides that a complaint or report shall be made in writing or orally to a prosecutor or a judicial police officer. Article 237(2) provides that where it is made orally, the officer receiving it must prepare a written record.
Two practical consequences follow. First, you do not need a lawyer in order to file — you can go to a police station and state the complaint, and the officer must reduce it to writing. Second, because what is investigated is the written document rather than what you said in the room, a complaint prepared in advance, with the facts in order and the evidence identified, is a materially different starting point from one transcribed on the spot through an interpreter.
The language problem, and what it actually costs
Police stations can arrange interpretation, and for an initial report that is usually enough. The difficulty appears later. A criminal complaint has to set out facts that correspond to the elements of a specific offence; an account that is entirely accurate but not organised that way tends to come back as a decision that no offence is made out. In our experience this is the most common reason a well-founded complaint by a foreign victim fails — not disbelief, but a mismatch between the narrative and what the provision requires.
What happens after you file
The police investigate. They then either send the case to the prosecution (송치) or decide not to (불송치). Where they decide not to, the complainant is notified of that decision and the reasons for it.
Article 245-7(1) provides that a person who has received that notification may file an objection with the head of the police office concerned, and expressly states that a 고발인 is excluded from that right. Where an objection is filed, Article 245-7(2) requires the police to send the case, the file and the evidence to a prosecutor without delay, and to notify the person of the result and the reasons.
The point is narrow and worth stating precisely: this particular route — objecting to a non-referral decision — is not open to someone who filed as a 고발인. That is one specific consequence of the distinction, not a general rule that a 고소 carries every right and a 고발 carries none. Which route fits your situation depends on who you are in relation to the incident.
Is it too late to report?
For most offences there is no short deadline for reporting. A six-month limit applies to the narrow category of offences that require a victim’s complaint in order to be prosecuted at all; outside that category the operative limit is the prosecution limitation period, which is measured in years. We set out how this works for theft in our guide to theft cases and late reports in Korea.
The practical limits are different from the legal ones. CCTV is routinely overwritten within weeks. Chat logs, transfer records and access logs survive far longer. A report made months later is usually built on documents rather than footage, so it is worth collecting those before you file rather than after.
What to bring
A chronology with dates. Every message, in the original language, exported rather than screenshotted where possible. Transfer or payment records. Contact details, account names or any other identifier for the other person. Medical records where there was injury. The names of anyone who saw what happened. And if you already made a 신고, the incident number.
When representation changes the outcome
Not every complaint needs a lawyer. The ones that do tend to share a feature: the facts are contested, the suspect is hard to identify, or the amount at stake means recovering it matters as much as the prosecution does. Our criminal complaint service for victims in Korea covers preparation, filing and representation of the complainant during the investigation; where the money itself is the point, a civil claim usually runs alongside rather than after it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can a foreigner file a police report in Korea?
A: Yes. Nationality and visa type do not determine whether you may report a crime or file a criminal complaint.
Q: Do I have to file in Korean?
A: A complaint may be made in writing or orally to a prosecutor or judicial police officer under Article 237, and interpretation can be arranged. The document that is then investigated will be in Korean, which is why preparing it in advance matters.
Q: What is the difference between 고소 and 고발?
A: A 고소 is made by the victim; a 고발 is made by someone who is not the victim. Both can start an investigation. They differ at specific later steps — most clearly under Article 245-7(1), which excludes a 고발인 from objecting to a police decision not to refer the case.
Q: The police decided not to send my case to the prosecution. Is that the end?
A: It depends on the capacity in which you filed. A person who received the non-referral notification may object to the head of the police office concerned, and the case must then be sent to a prosecutor with the file and evidence — but Article 245-7(1) expressly excludes a 고발인 from that route. If you filed as a 고발인, that particular avenue is not available to you, and any remaining options should be assessed on the facts of your case.
Q: Do I need to be in Korea to file?
A: Not in every case. Whether a complaint can be prepared and filed on your behalf depends on the offence and the evidence, and is worth checking before you leave the country if you are able to.
This article is general information about Korean criminal procedure and is not legal advice. Outcomes depend on the specific facts of each case, and statutory provisions are subject to amendment. For advice on your situation, consult a licensed attorney.
Harmed by a crime in Korea? Attorney Soobin You represents complainants in English at every stage of the investigation, with offices in Seoul (Mapo) and Gyeongju. Contact us via KakaoTalk or the inquiry form.
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