What happens if I hit a pedestrian in Korea?

What Korean law says

Article 3(1): a driver who commits the offence under Article 268 of the Criminal Act through a traffic accident is liable to imprisonment without labour for up to five years or a fine of up to twenty million won.

Article 3(2), main text: for occupational negligence causing injury or gross negligence causing injury, and for the offence under Article 151 of the Road Traffic Act, a prosecution cannot be brought against the victim’s express wishes.

Article 3(2), proviso: that protection does not apply where the driver, having committed the offence, fled without taking the measures required by Article 54(1) of the Road Traffic Act such as rescuing the victim, or moved the victim from the scene and abandoned them; where the driver refused a breath test in breach of Article 44(2), except where the driver requested or consented to a blood test, or obstructed measurement in breach of Article 44(5); or where the offence was caused by one of the listed violations. Those include disobeying a signal, crossing the centre line, exceeding the speed limit by more than 20 km/h, unlawful overtaking, breach of the duty to protect pedestrians on a crosswalk under Article 27(1), driving without a licence, drink or drug driving, driving on a pavement, and breaches in a child protection zone.

Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents, Article 3. Act No. 20634, in force from 4 June 2025.

What usually happens in practice

The crosswalk item is the one that decides most pedestrian cases. An accident on a crossing is very likely to engage the proviso, and once it does, a settlement no longer prevents prosecution. It still matters a great deal to the outcome, but it stops being a bar to the case.

The other route out of the protection is conduct after the accident. Leaving before the required measures are taken converts a case that would probably have been resolved by insurance into one of the most serious categories in Korean road traffic law. That is true even where the initial contact was slight and the driver did not think anyone was injured.

Apparent minor injuries also matter. A pedestrian who declines help at the scene and attends hospital the next day produces an injury case, which is why the duties in Article 54 should be performed regardless of how the person seems.

What you should do next

• Stop, help, give your details and report. Do this before anything else.
• Establish immediately whether a crossing, a signal or a speed limit was involved. That decides the category.
• Comply with any breath test. Refusal removes the protection on its own.
• Involve your insurer and pursue a settlement, but do not assume it ends the case if the proviso applies.

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