Short answer. It depends on what was damaged. If anyone was injured, you must report it. If only vehicles were damaged, and you have taken the measures needed to prevent danger on the road and keep traffic moving, the duty to report to the police does not apply. Either way, two duties apply in every accident: stop immediately, and give the other party your contact details. Those are not optional, and skipping them is a far more serious matter than not phoning the police.
What Korean law says
Article 54(1) of the Road Traffic Act provides that where a person is injured or property is damaged through the operation of a vehicle or tram, the driver or other crew member must stop immediately and take the following measures: first, rescuing the casualties and other necessary measures; second, providing the injured party with personal details such as name, telephone number and address.
Article 54(2) then adds the reporting duty. The driver must report the matter without delay to a police officer if one is present at the scene, or to the nearest national police office if not. The paragraph carries an express exception: this does not apply where it is clear that only the vehicle or tram was damaged and the driver has taken the measures necessary to prevent danger on the road and keep traffic flowing.
So the statute separates two things that are easy to confuse. The on-scene duties in paragraph 1 apply to every accident. The reporting duty in paragraph 2 has an exception for damage-only accidents where the road has been made safe.
Road Traffic Act, Article 54(1) and (2). Act No. 21246, in force from 1 July 2026.
What usually happens in practice
The exception is narrower than drivers assume. It requires that only the vehicle was damaged, and that has to be clear, which it often is not at the roadside, because an occupant who feels fine at the scene may report an injury the next day. Once any injury is in the picture, the exception falls away.
Insurers commonly ask for a police report regardless, and in practice reporting a damage-only accident is not penalised. The risk runs the other way. A driver who leaves without doing what paragraph 1 requires is exposed to the failure-to-take-measures offence, which is treated seriously and is a separate matter from the reporting duty entirely.
What you should do next
- Stop. This is not discretionary, however minor the contact looked.
- Check whether anyone is hurt before deciding anything about reporting.
- Give the other party your contact details, and take theirs.
- Make the scene safe. Move the vehicles if that is what prevents danger and keeps traffic flowing.
- If there is any doubt about injury, report it. The exception only covers accidents where it is clear that nothing but the vehicle was damaged.
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Written and reviewed by Soobin You, Attorney at YUSU Lawfirm. Former prosecutor. Last legal review: 12 September 2026.