Short answer. Yes. Before questioning a suspect, investigators must tell you four things under Article 244-3 of the Criminal Procedure Act: that you may stay silent entirely or decline any individual question; that silence will not be held against you; that anything you do say after waiving silence can be used as evidence of guilt at trial; and that you may have a lawyer present. You can exercise the right selectively, question by question.
What Korean law says
Article 244-3(1) requires that before a suspect is questioned, the investigator informs the suspect of the following: first, that the suspect may decline to make any statement at all or may decline to answer individual questions; second, that declining to make a statement will not result in disadvantage; third, that a statement made after giving up the right to remain silent may be used as evidence of guilt in court; and fourth, that the suspect may receive the assistance of counsel, including having counsel participate in the questioning.
Paragraph 2 then requires the investigator to ask whether you intend to exercise the right to silence and the right to counsel, and to record your answer in the interview record. That answer must either be written in your own hand or signed or sealed by you on the part of the record where it is written down.
Criminal Procedure Act, Article 244-3(1) and (2). Act No. 21241, in force from 1 July 2026.
What usually happens in practice
The warning is read quickly and is often the least memorable part of a long day. It is still a real right, and the second paragraph matters as much as the first: your recorded answer about whether you want a lawyer becomes part of the file, so it is worth giving that answer deliberately rather than reflexively.
Silence is rarely an all-or-nothing decision. In practice the useful use of the right is narrow: declining to speculate, declining to answer about matters you do not clearly remember, and declining to be drawn into characterising your own conduct in legal terms. Answering identity and background questions while declining to discuss the allegation itself is a coherent position, not a contradiction.
The third warning is the one people underestimate. Once you choose to speak, what you say is evidence, and a partial account given to be helpful is difficult to correct later.
What you should do next
- Listen to the warning rather than waving it through, and answer the question about counsel deliberately.
- If you want a lawyer present, say so before the questioning starts, not midway.
- You may decline individual questions. Doing so is not an admission.
- Read the record before signing it, and ask for corrections where it does not match what you said.
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Written and reviewed by Soobin You, Attorney at YUSU Lawfirm. Former prosecutor. Last legal review: 12 September 2026.