Can a Sex Crime Case Be Closed Without Charges in Korea?

Short answer. Yes, and it happens in two quite different ways. The prosecutor may conclude that the case is not made out on the evidence, or may conclude that it is made out but decline to prosecute anyway. The second route is Article 247 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which allows a prosecutor not to institute prosecution taking account of the sentencing factors in Article 51 of the Criminal Act. Which route your case takes matters, because the two leave you in different positions.

What Korean law says

Article 247: the prosecutor may decline to institute a prosecution, taking into consideration the matters in Article 51 of the Criminal Act. Article 51 lists the offender’s age, character and conduct, intelligence and environment; the relationship with the victim; the motive, means and result of the offence; and the circumstances after the offence.

Article 245-5 governs the earlier stage: where police find a suspicion of an offence they transfer the case to the prosecutor, and where they do not they send the documents with written reasons, which the prosecutor must return within 90 days.

Criminal Procedure Act, Articles 247 and 245-5, and Criminal Act Article 51. Criminal Procedure Act No. 21241, in force from 1 July 2026; Criminal Act No. 21450, in force from 13 September 2026.

What usually happens in practice

A decision that the evidence does not establish the offence is the stronger outcome. A decision not to prosecute under Article 247 is a favourable outcome but a different one: it records that the case was considered chargeable and that the prosecutor exercised discretion. For consequences that turn on what is on record, including decisions about residence status, that distinction can matter later.

What actually moves a case toward either outcome is the same material in both instances, and it has to arrive before the decision. The Article 51 factors point squarely at conduct after the offence, which is why how someone behaves during the investigation carries real weight, and why contacting the complainant is so damaging.

Registration and the employment restriction order follow a conviction or a summary order. A case that closes without charges does not trigger them, which is the practical reason the charging decision is the stage worth concentrating on.

What you should do next

Put your material in before the charging decision, not after it.
Ask which route the decision took. The wording of the disposition matters.
Do not approach the complainant. It is the fastest way to lose a winnable case.
Check the residence-status consequences of a discretionary non-prosecution separately.

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Written and reviewed by Soobin You, Attorney at YUSU Lawfirm. Former prosecutor. Last legal review: 12 September 2026.