My Korean ex reported me to the police as a "meth user" after we broke up — I've never touched it. How do I clear this without making it worse?

Police take a methamphetamine report seriously regardless of who makes it, and they also know, from experience, that reports from ex-partners after a breakup are among the least reliable they receive. What they will do is check: an interview, a request for a sample, and, if the report is specific enough, an application for a warrant. What they cannot do is search you or your apartment on her word alone. For someone who has never used, a test is the fastest way to end this — and the choice of test matters. A knowingly false report is a crime she can be prosecuted for, and the moment to raise it is after your test is clean, not before.

What this is under Korean law

Methamphetamine (필로폰, philopon — the Korean term for the drug) is a psychotropic substance under the Narcotics Control Act (마약류관리법, mayangnyu gwalli-beop); use or possession carries up to ten years' imprisonment or a fine of up to KRW 100 million under Article 60. Police narcotics units prioritize methamphetamine because of its association with distribution networks, which is the "aggressive" reputation you have read about. The reputation is accurate for trafficking investigations; for a use report with no corroboration, the investigation is a check.

A report made to the police alleging a crime the reporter knows did not occur is false accusation (무고, mugo) under Article 156 of the Criminal Act — up to ten years' imprisonment or a fine of up to KRW 15 million. "You'll be deported" messages are evidence of motive and, depending on content, may amount to intimidation.

What the police can and cannot do

A "consultation" request is a voluntary interview (임의수사, imui susa). A search of you or your apartment requires a warrant (압수수색영장, apsu susaek yeongjang) from a judge, issued on reasonable suspicion; an uncorroborated report from an estranged partner is thin ground, and judges know the pattern. A sample requires your consent or a warrant, with the same threshold. In practice, an uncorroborated report leads to an interview and a request for a voluntary test; if the test is clean, the file closes.

The test

For a person who has never used, a test is not a risk; it is the exit. Which test: urine detects methamphetamine for days; hair detects it for months and is the test that ends an allegation about past use. A clean hair test, given voluntarily, with counsel's letter noting the relationship history and the messages, is a file that closes with a non-referral (불송치, bulsongchi) and no record. Take it through counsel, at an accredited institution or at the police's request with counsel present, so that the result and its chain of custody are on the file in your favor.

One caution before consenting to anything: be certain of your own history — prescription medications, supplements bought abroad, or a single occasion you have forgotten can produce results that complicate a "never" statement. Tell your lawyer everything before you tell the police anything.

Your situation as a foreign national

An investigation on a report does not affect your E-7; a closed case with a clean test leaves nothing for immigration to consider. Her "deported" threat describes what a conviction might lead to, not what a report does. A departure suspension is unlikely on an uncorroborated report; confirm before travel anyway. You are entitled to an interpreter and counsel at the interview. MEGA X handles the criminal side.

The false report

Once your test is clean and the file closed, a complaint for false accusation is available, and her messages — the report's timing after the breakup, the threats — are its evidence. Whether to file is a judgment: it holds her to account and it deters a second report; it also prolongs your involvement with her. Raising it before the test is clean reads as an attempt to intimidate a witness and is the one thing that could make your case worse. Sequence: test, closure, then decide.

What to do now, and what not to do

Do not reply to her messages; preserve them. Do not go to the "consultation" alone or without having decided, with counsel, on the test. Do not consent to a search "to prove you have nothing to hide"; a warrantless consent search is a legal event with its own consequences and it is unnecessary. Go with counsel, an interpreter, and a clean test scheduled.

From a former police investigator's perspective

Narcotics investigators receive ex-partner reports constantly, and they can read the timing. What they need to close the file is a test, and what makes them keep it open is a suspect who refuses one while insisting he has nothing to hide. A clean hair test delivered by a lawyer, with the breakup messages attached, closes the case and quietly starts a different one — about the person who filed it.

Contact us before the interview date — text consultation or +82-2-522-3959.

— MEGA X Law Firm Korea, Criminal Defense Team