Short answer. A suspended sentence is a real conviction with a real sentence, where execution of that sentence is put on hold for a set period. Under Article 62 of the Criminal Act, where a court imposes imprisonment or imprisonment without labour of up to three years, or a fine of up to five million won, it may suspend execution for between one and five years if the Article 51 factors give grounds for leniency. It is not an acquittal and it is not the erasure of the conviction.
What Korean law says
Article 62(1): where a sentence of imprisonment or imprisonment without labour of not more than three years, or a fine of not more than five million won, is to be pronounced, the court may suspend execution of the sentence for a period of one to five years, taking into account the matters in Article 51 and where there are circumstances deserving of consideration. There is an exclusion: this does not apply where sentence is being passed for an offence committed within the period running from the finalisation of a judgment imposing a sentence of imprisonment without labour or heavier, until three years after that sentence was completed or remitted.
Article 62(2) allows suspension of part of a sentence where sentences are imposed together.
Article 51 lists the factors: 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.
Criminal Act, Articles 62 and 51. Act No. 21450, in force from 13 September 2026.
What usually happens in practice
Two things about suspended sentences surprise foreign nationals. The first is that the conviction exists. It is recorded, it can be disclosed in the contexts where criminal records are disclosed, and it is not the same as a case that ended without charges. The second is the exclusion in the proviso: a suspended sentence is not available where the offence was committed inside the window following an earlier custodial sentence, which is why a second case is a different proposition from a first.
The three-year ceiling also shapes defence strategy. Where the realistic sentence is close to that line, the argument that matters is not only about guilt but about keeping the sentence within the range where suspension is possible at all.
What you should do next
- Do not treat it as the case being over. Understand what is recorded and where it can appear.
- Check the residence-status consequences separately. They do not follow automatically from the sentence.
- Address the Article 51 factors concretely, especially conduct after the offence.
- If you have an earlier custodial sentence, raise it with your lawyer at the outset. The proviso may apply.
Related
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How a criminal charge affects your visa in Korea
Criminal defence lawyer in Korea
Criminal procedure answers
All Korean law answers
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Written and reviewed by Soobin You, Attorney at YUSU Lawfirm. Former prosecutor. Last legal review: 12 September 2026.