Criminal Offense | Violation of the Stalking Punishment Act – Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office 2022Hyungjae37*** 

Case Summary: The client and the victim were lovers who promised to marry, and the client received a unilateral break up notice from the victim.

At the time, the client thought that if he apologized and released the victim’s mind, she would come back as before,

so he contacted the victim several times through the Instagram DM, but the victim sued him for stalking her.

 

Applicable Law: Article 18 of the Stalking Punishment Act (Stalking Crime) ① A person who commits a stalking crime shall be sentenced to imprisonment with a labor for up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million Korean Won.

② A person who commits a stalking crime by carrying or using a deadly weapon or other dangerous object shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a labor of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million Korean Won.

③ The crime under paragraph 1 can’t be prosecuted against the victim’s specifically expressed intention.

 

Counsel’s Assistance: The defense team has provided sufficient consultation and several contact with the client to fully explain how the incident occurred in counsel’s opinion.

In particular, the defense strongly argued that while acknowledging that the client had contacted the victim several times, the content of the communications never caused anxiety or fear to the victim,

that the client was mainly blaming himself and wishing for the other’s happiness, that the client and the victim were engaged to be married,

that the client neither visited the victim nor asked to confront him, and that the victim tolerated the client’s communications to a certain extent. We also provided the best assistance in the criminal mediation at the prosecutor stage,

which ultimately resulted in the client’s amicable settlement with the victim and a non-prosecution without the right to indict.

 

Result: As a result, the prosecution decided not to indict the client’s charges, reflecting the opinion of defense counsel of Law Win.

 

Significance of the Result: Since the Stalking Punishment Act has just been effect, many people may still believe that it is not a crime to text or call an ex consistently and repeatedly.

However, if you are found to be guilty, it is important to seek a proper legal counsel from early on in the investigation as you could be facing a prison time.

 

Attorneys in charge of the case: Kim Nak-eui, Park Da-som

 

Translator : Baek Su-Hyun