I hit a pedestrian with a rental car in Korea — minor injury, my flight is in three days. Can I leave, and what am I facing?

A crosswalk pedestrian accident with injury is both a civil matter, which the insurance handles, and a criminal one, which it does not. Your Korean friend and the website are describing the same feature of Korean law: injuring a pedestrian in a crosswalk is one of the specific violations for which insurance does not prevent prosecution. Whether you are prosecuted, and whether you can leave in three days, turns on two things — the injury's severity as stated in her medical certificate, and whether a settlement with her exists. Both are achievable inside three days, and the rental company's advice to "settle yourself" is the one piece of advice you should not follow literally.

What this is under Korean law

Causing injury by negligent driving is an offense under Article 3 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents (교통사고처리 특례법, gyotong sago cheori teungnyebeop) — up to five years' imprisonment or a fine of up to KRW 20 million. The same Act contains the rule that makes most Korean traffic injury cases disappear: where the driver is covered by comprehensive insurance, or the victim does not wish punishment, the case is not prosecuted — except in listed situations. Failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk (횡단보도 보행자 보호의무 위반) is on that list. That is the "always prosecuted" your website meant, and it is closer to the truth than the rental company's "insurance covers it."

Whether your turn amounted to that violation depends on the signal, the crosswalk markings, and where she was; the police will look at dashcam and intersection CCTV. Whether the case is prosecuted at all also depends on the injury: a sprained wrist with a two-week certificate is at the low end; a fracture requiring surgery is not.

How the process works in Korea

The police take the victim's medical certificate (진단서, jindanseo) stating the treatment period, review the footage, and refer the case to the prosecutor (송치, songchi). For a crosswalk case with a minor injury and a first-time foreign driver, the prosecutor's usual choices are a summary fine or a suspension of indictment (기소유예, giso yuye) — the latter far more likely where there is a settlement. Indictment and trial follow for serious injuries.

A settlement (합의, hapui) is a private agreement with the victim, typically compensation beyond what insurance pays, in exchange for a written statement that she does not wish punishment (처벌불원서, cheobeol burwonseo). In a crosswalk case, that statement does not end the case by itself — the crosswalk exception means the prosecutor can still proceed — but it is the single most important document in the prosecutor's decision, and the reason settlements happen even where insurance is complete. "Settle yourself" is where foreign drivers go wrong: the amount is negotiable, the victim's side may ask for far more than the injury warrants from a tourist about to leave, and an unrepresented driver who agrees on day two overpays. Counsel opens the channel, confirms the certificate, and sets the number.

Your situation as a foreign national

A departure suspension (출국정지, chulguk jeongji) is requested in traffic injury cases where the police believe the driver may leave before the case is resolved — a tourist with a flight in three days is that profile. It is not automatic; it is lifted when the investigation no longer needs you here. In practice, a driver whose lawyer has contacted the police, confirmed the case will be handled through counsel, and opened the settlement is rarely held; a driver who simply boards is a suspended file that meets him at the border next time.

You are entitled to an interpreter at the formal interview; an app-taken statement should be reviewed by counsel. Consular notification applies if you are detained.

A criminal disposition here is a fact the Immigration Office may consider on your next entry; a suspension of indictment is not a conviction. MEGA X handles the criminal case; the rental company's insurer handles the civil claim, and the two are coordinated so that the settlement is not paid twice.

What to do now, and what not to do

Today: retain counsel; give the rental company's insurer notice in writing; request the intersection CCTV be preserved. Do not visit the hospital yourself or negotiate with her family; do not sign anything from the rental company beyond the accident report. Do not book a new flight until counsel has confirmed the departure question with police and immigration. Prepare your account with your lawyer before the formal interview.

From a former police investigator's perspective

In crosswalk cases, the investigator's file is largely footage and a certificate; what varies is the driver. A foreign driver who engages counsel on day one, has the insurer on record, and opens a settlement respectfully is a file the officer sends to the prosecutor with a note that the matter is resolved — and that note is what a suspension of indictment is built on. A driver who leaves on day three without a word is a file marked "departed," and it costs the officer nothing to leave it open.

Three days is tight but workable if the first call is today — +82-2-522-3959 or the text consultation form.

— MEGA X Law Firm Korea, Criminal Defense Team