What Happens at a First Sex Crime Police Interview in Korea?

Short answer. It is a formal suspect interview and it produces the document the rest of the case is argued against. Before questioning begins you must be given the four warnings in Article 244-3 of the Criminal Procedure Act, including that you may stay silent and that you may have a lawyer present, and your answer about whether you want those rights is written into the record. Article 180 makes interpretation mandatory if you do not understand Korean. At the end, Article 244 gives you the right to check the record and have corrections added before you sign.

What Korean law says

Article 244-3(1): before questioning a suspect, investigators must give four warnings: that you may decline to make any statement or decline individual questions; that declining will not disadvantage you; that a statement made after waiving silence may be used as evidence of guilt; and that you may have the assistance of counsel, including counsel participating in the questioning. Paragraph 2 requires your answer about exercising those rights to be recorded, in your own hand or with your signature or seal.

Article 180: the statement of a person who does not understand Korean must be interpreted by an interpreter.

Article 244(2) and (3): the record must be shown to you or read to you; you must be asked whether anything differs from what you said or from the facts; any objection or opinion must be added to the record and the part objected to must remain readable; and only where you state there is no objection do you write that in your own hand.

Criminal Procedure Act, Articles 180, 244 and 244-3. Act No. 21241, in force from 1 July 2026.

What usually happens in practice

These interviews are long and the questions are detailed about timing, sequence and communication. The instinct to fill silences and to explain context is the main source of damage, because an approximate answer given to be helpful becomes a fixed position in the record.

Two practical points. First, prepare the objective record before you attend, not afterwards: message threads in full, transport and payment records, and a timeline you have written yourself. Second, the answer you give about wanting a lawyer is recorded under Article 244-3(2), so decide it before you are asked rather than in the moment.

Expect questions about contact with the complainant since the allegation. Any contact will be known about, so it is better addressed with your lawyer beforehand than discovered.

What you should do next

Instruct a lawyer before the interview, not after the first record exists.
Confirm an interpreter is booked if you need one, and say so if accuracy slips.
Say you do not remember when you do not remember. Do not estimate.
Read the record in full and have every difference added before signing.

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