Korean police seized my phone over an "illegal filming" accusation on the subway — I'm on an E-7. What are they looking for, and what are my rights?

Being accused is not enough to put you on any registry, cost you your visa, or affect your employment; only a conviction does those things, and a phone with nothing on it is the best evidence you could have. The process is what it is, though: Korean police take filming complaints seriously, forensic examination of a submitted phone is standard, and the way that examination is scoped and observed is where your rights actually apply. You have more of them than you were told at the station.

What this is under Korean law

The offense is filming another person's body against their will in a manner that could cause sexual humiliation, under Article 14 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning Sexual Crimes (성폭력처벌법, seongpongnyeok cheobeol-beop) — up to seven years' imprisonment or a fine of up to KRW 50 million. Attempts are punishable. A conviction, including a suspended sentence, brings registration of personal information (신상정보 등록, sinsang jeongbo deungnok) and can carry employment restrictions. Those consequences follow a judgment; an investigation that ends in a non-referral (불송치, bulsongchi) leaves no record of that kind.

Your phone: voluntary submission and what "analyze" means

You were not required to hand over the phone. Police may seize evidence with a court warrant (압수수색영장, apsu susaek yeongjang) or by voluntary submission (임의제출, imui jecheul). You chose the second, which was not unreasonable in the moment, but it has consequences: the police now hold the device lawfully, and the scope of what they may examine is defined by what the submission was for.

Korean law and Supreme Court precedent limit forensic examination of a seized device to data related to the suspected offense — here, images and video from the relevant time — and give the owner the right to be present during the extraction and to receive a record of what was copied. In practice, that right has to be asserted. A lawyer can notify the police that you exercise it, attend the forensic session, and object if the examination expands into unrelated messages, photos or banking data. Evidence gathered beyond the permitted scope is challengeable. You may also request return of the device once the relevant extraction is complete; police are not entitled to hold it for the life of the case.

How the process works in Korea

The forensic result goes into the file with the complainant's statement and any platform CCTV, which typically shows the position of your phone. If nothing is found and the footage shows a phone at your side, the police close the case with a non-referral. If something ambiguous is found — a single frame, a reflection — the case may be referred to the prosecutor (송치, songchi), who decides on indictment. First-time cases without clear images do not usually go further; that is a range, not a promise.

Your situation as a foreign national

A departure suspension (출국정지, chulguk jeongji) can be requested during sex-offense investigations of foreign nationals; check before travelling. You are entitled to an interpreter at interviews; if your statement at the station was taken without a competent one, say so through counsel now.

On status: a conviction is a fact the Immigration Office weighs at extension and in status review, and sex offenses appear among the grounds for deportation review. Immigration outcomes are decided by the Immigration Office, not the court, and we do not predict them. An investigation that closes has no such effect. MEGA X handles the criminal case; where it touches your status, we coordinate with an immigration specialist as part of your defense.

On your employer: the police do not report an investigation to a company. A six-day silence needs an explanation; "my phone was taken as evidence in a police matter I am confident will be resolved" is true and sufficient. Do not describe the allegation.

What to do now, and what not to do

Do not go back to the station to "check on it" alone. Do not contact the complainant. Through counsel: assert the right to attend the forensic examination, request the platform CCTV be preserved, request return of the device, and, if you have a backup, produce the relevant time window yourself. Prepare a written account of the two minutes on the platform with your lawyer before any further interview.

From a former police investigator's perspective

Platform filming complaints are common, and investigators know that many come from a phone held at an angle by someone scrolling. What they need to close the file is a clean forensic report and footage consistent with your account; what they need to keep it open is a suspect who deleted things, argued with the complainant, or disappeared. A represented suspect who offers the backup for the relevant window and attends the extraction gives the officer the clean report faster than the lab queue does.

Six days without a phone is long enough. Contact us and we will notify the station of your participation right today — text consultation or +82-2-522-3959.

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