My Korean husband hits me and says if I report him he'll "get me deported" — I'm on an F-6. Is that a real threat?

It is not a real threat in the way he means it. A Korean spouse cannot have a foreign spouse deported by making an accusation; immigration status is decided by the Immigration Office on evidence and procedure, not on a husband's phone call, and a "friend at immigration" is a line abusers use because it works on people who have no way to check it. What is real is that an F-6 depends on the marriage and that the marriage is ending — which is exactly why the way it ends, and what the record shows about why, matters. A protection order and a divorce filed on the ground of his violence produce the record that immigration rules treat most favorably for a foreign spouse. His threat, in other words, describes the outcome of doing nothing, not the outcome of acting.

Can he have you deported?

Immigration rules provide separately for a foreign spouse whose marriage ended through the Korean spouse's fault (귀책사유, gwichaek sayu). Domestic violence is the clearest case of fault the rules contemplate, and the documents the Immigration Office looks at are a protection order, a police or medical record, and a divorce judgment on the ground of mistreatment. A husband who "reports" a "fake wife" is making an allegation that the Immigration Office would examine against a five-year marriage, a shared residence, and the same file of evidence that shows him as the abuser. Those decisions are the Immigration Office's, not his and not the court's, and we do not predict them; but the mechanism he describes does not exist. MEGA X handles the protection order and the divorce; where the result affects your stay, we coordinate with an immigration specialist as part of the case.

What happens on the day: protection first

Two tools, and you should understand the difference, because it answers your fear about him coming home angrier.

A criminal complaint for assault brings police involvement; police can take emergency measures at the scene and can seek temporary measures (임시조치, imsi jochi) from the court, including removal from the home and a no-contact order, under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Crimes of Domestic Violence (가정폭력처벌법, gajeong pongnyeok cheobeol-beop). Whether he is detained depends on the facts and the court; in many cases he is not, and your fear that he returns is legitimate.

A victim protection order (피해자보호명령, pihaeja boho myeongnyeong) is different: you apply for it directly at the family court, it can be granted quickly and without a criminal case, and it orders him out of the home, away from you, and off your phone, with violation being its own offense. It is issued by a judge on your application, with an interpreter, and it does not require you to go to a police station at all. For someone whose fear is the day after, the protection order is usually the first move, with the criminal side handled by counsel afterward.

You do not need to walk into a station alone for either. A lawyer files the protection-order application and, if you choose to pursue the criminal side, files the complaint and handles every communication with the police on your behalf. If he is in front of you and you are in danger, call 112; that is the one situation where you act first and plan later.

Can you divorce in Korea, and under which law

Jurisdiction under Article 56 of the Act on Private International Law (국제사법, gukje sabeop) is clear; Korean law applies under Article 66. Extreme mistreatment by a spouse is a listed ground for judicial divorce (재판상 이혼, jaepansang ihon) under Article 840 of the Civil Act. The divorce and the protection order run in parallel; the order keeps you safe while the divorce proceeds through mediation (조정, jojeong) and, if needed, trial.

Children, property and support

No children. Property division (재산분할, jaesan bunhal) covers what was built during five years; consolation money (위자료, wijaryo) for violence is a separate claim and is routinely awarded.

The evidence you already have

The notebook is good; keep it dated. The clinic record that says "fall" is not useless — it establishes the injury and the date, and a later statement explaining why you said "fall" is understood by Korean courts, which see that pattern constantly. Your sister's knowledge, with dates of when you told her, is corroboration. Photographs of injuries, dated, are the strongest evidence you can add without risk. Do not confront him to get an admission on recording.

Practical insight

Foreign spouses stay in violent marriages in Korea for the reason you describe: the threat is unverifiable, and the person who could verify it is the person making it. The verification is this — the outcome he threatens is the one produced by silence, and the outcome he fears is the one produced by a file. Women who leave with a protection order and a divorce on the ground of violence leave with the strongest immigration record the rules provide. Women who leave quietly, without a record, leave with nothing but his version.

Contact us through a channel he cannot see — the text consultation form from a device that is not shared, or +82-2-522-3959 from a phone he does not have access to. We can plan the protection order before he knows you have called anyone.

— Hyeonghwan Chon, Managing Partner, MEGA X Law Firm Korea