A student's parent accused me of touching their child — my hagwon fired me and the police have called. I'm an E-2 teacher. What is happening to me?

It is a criminal investigation, the allegation is one Korean law treats with great seriousness, and the classroom camera is, at this moment, the most important object in your life. What you describe — lifting a climbing child down by the waist in front of a class — is not a sexual act, and cases where the footage shows a teacher managing a child are closed. But the distance between that outcome and a very different one is filled by what you say in the interview, what happens to the footage, and how you handle your visa in the next few weeks. Nobody at the hagwon is on your side; that is why you need someone who is.

What this is under Korean law

The allegation would be charged, if at all, as indecent act against a child (아동·청소년 강제추행) under the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth against Sex Offenses (청소년성보호법, cheongsonyeon seongboho-beop), which carries a minimum of two years' imprisonment — or, depending on the facts alleged, child abuse (아동학대, adong hakdae) under the Child Abuse Punishment Act, which covers physical or emotional harm and is where a rough handling complaint that is not sexual would sit. The distinction is the whole case, and the footage is what makes it.

A conviction for a sex offense against a child brings registration of personal information (신상정보 등록, sinsang jeongbo deungnok), possible public disclosure, and a court-ordered restriction on employment at child- and youth-related institutions (취업제한, chwieop jehan) for a period of years. Those consequences follow a judgment, not an investigation, and they apply to foreign nationals. An investigation that closes with a non-referral (불송치, bulsongchi) leaves no such record.

How the process works in Korea

The police will take the parent's statement, interview the child through specialized procedures, obtain the classroom footage, and interview you. Cases with children are often handled by a specialized unit. The police then refer the case to the prosecutor (송치, songchi) or close it. In your situation, the footage will be reviewed before your interview; whether the investigator has already seen it is something your lawyer can find out.

Two things to understand about Korean practice. Direct contact with the parent, even to apologize for a misunderstanding, is read as pressure on a victim's family and can itself become a reason for detention. And a settlement (합의, hapui) does not end a child sex-offense case; it is not a route here.

Your situation as a foreign national

Departure suspension (출국정지, chulguk jeongji) is routinely requested in sex-offense investigations involving children and foreign suspects; assume one exists and confirm before any travel. Leaving Korea without resolving this is the worst available option: it converts a closable case into a suspended one with a likely warrant, and it follows you.

Your visa. E-2 status depends on the sponsoring employer. A termination must be reported by the employer, and the Immigration Office then decides what period you have and on what terms; an investigation does not by itself end status, but a lost sponsor starts a clock. That is a question for immediate attention, and it is decided by the Immigration Office, not the police. A conviction is a fact immigration weighs heavily; a closed case is not. MEGA X handles the criminal case; where the status question is live, as it is here, we coordinate with an immigration specialist as part of your defense.

The "report to immigration" by the director is the employer's termination report, not an accusation; the district education office contact is routine for a hagwon complaint. Neither is a finding.

What to do now, and what not to do

Do not attend the interview alone. Do not contact the parent or the child, and do not discuss the incident with coworkers beyond confirming a date. Through counsel: request that the classroom footage be preserved and obtained from the hagwon — footage is overwritten on short cycles, and a hagwon that has fired you has no incentive to keep it; identify the other adults present; and prepare your account with your lawyer before the interview, in your own language, anchored to what the footage shows. Move out of the housing on time; a dispute over the apartment is a distraction you cannot afford.

From a former police investigator's perspective

In classroom cases, the investigator's first question is what the camera shows, and the second is whether the teacher's account matches it before he has seen it. A teacher who describes lifting a child by the waist, and footage that shows exactly that, is a file that closes. A teacher who, frightened, minimizes contact — "I barely touched him" — and footage showing a firm two-handed lift has created an inconsistency the parent's lawyer will use. Accuracy, not minimization. And the footage must be secured this week; without it, the case becomes a child's word against a foreign teacher's, which is a much longer road.

Ten days in, with the interview pending, is early enough to do this right. Contact us before you go in — text consultation or +82-2-522-3959.

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