Korean Job Discussion Forums

kangnam mafioso · Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Location: Teheranno

Has anyone been arrested or detained in the ROK? What was your experience like? Were you treated with respect or was it a chaotic nightmare? I met quite a few foreigners in Korea who had brushes with the law, and their stories ranged from the hilarious to the macabre. One thing I did notice in Korea was their tolerant attitude towards public drunkeness/ urination, etc. In the USA, a cop will take you to jail in a New York minute if you're only slightly intoxicated, urinate in public or have an open container of beer. And forget about riding around in taxis slurpping back a roadie. And most American cities have the Purintanical 1:30 last call in bars and limited times for purchasing alcoholic beverages in stores (7pm for booze and midnight for beer in a lot of places). As a drinker, I found the laid back approach to alcohol in Korea refreshing although, i suppose, it doesn't promote responsible drinking. To the ROK's credit, they've obviously clamped down on intoxicated driving. I went through more sobriety check points 2 years in Seoul than a lifetime of driving in the States.

TECO · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

Japan and Taiwan are the same.

I walk by cops all the time on the way home or to the bar with an open can of beer.

You can drink anywhere in Taiwan and Japan it seems and not get hassled.

Teachers would have a couple of beers on the train after work in Tokyo and not have any problems.

I've seen so many Japanese and Taiwanese pissing and puking in public and never get hassled.

I never once saw a paddy-wagon in Tokyo or even Taipei, for that matter.

Drunks aren't a priority here.

In Vancouver, they'd throw you in the drunk tank in a heart beat if the cops saw you doing stuff like this.

Americans and Canadians couldn't handle relaxed laws like this IMO.

wylde · Joined: 14 Apr 2003

funny story for those who are interested. i went to japan for the tourist visa renewal.. i stayed in tenojee, near osaka.. i couldn't find any grog @ 10.30pm when, on my travels i passed a police station.. i went in and asked where is it.. they put me in their car and drove me about 5 k's to an am/pm where i got a bottle of whiskey and then they drove me back to the motel.. i couln't believe it!

Circus Monkey · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: In my coconut tree

I still like the time when myself and two buddies were hauled to the cop shop while the Koreans who attacked us were able to run away, get their senior, and then come back to yell at the head cop. At least we sat in the waiting room and not a cell.

CM

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

A really good buddy of mine was thrown in prison for a 2-year sentence. I believed he served something like 8 months.

It wasn't pleasant.

First part he was in a jail-cell where he couldn't lie down.. had to sit in one spot all day without leaning.. also he didn't know what he was in for. Then something like 20 days there someone came in and told him why he was there.

Some point shortly thereafter they moved him to a prison cell. He said you couldn't sleep in there without having to bend your legs. Also he said a lot of Koreans would go up to his window just to look at him. In addition, he verified that most Koreans in jail do indeed have a lot of tattoos (just as an aside).

The hardest part with him is he just had absolutely no clue what was going on at all!! In the end his Mom had a bilingual lawyer get him out.. but throughout the entire time there.. there just wan't any information and he had the sense he was going to live the rest of his life and eventually die in there. He didn't realize how much his Mom and the lawyer she got was actually doing stuff but was never actually communicated to him - how it would work that way I don't know.

One day after about 8 months of a seemingly endless sentence.. someone just unlocked the doors and said 'okay you're free to go'.

Juggertha · Joined: 27 May 2003 Location: Anyang, Korea

ok Tiger.. do we get to find out why he was in?

Patong Dong · Joined: 06 May 2003 Location: On Nut

Tiger Beer, I'm not saying I doubt the veracity of your story, but how could someone be in jail for 20 days and serve 8 months eventually and not have a clue what he had done to be there in the first place until someone told him. I mean he must have had some idea, they did not release him after 20 days. I feel for the guy but you make it sound as if this poor innocent guy was just whisked off the street and held incommunicado for 20 days and then was kept inside for 8 months, and even in the ROK that doesn't add up.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

Ectasy.

When he went in, he wasn't under the influence at the time.

tsgarp · Joined: 01 Dec 2003

No sympathy for druggies. If you're gonna do it you had better know the penalty in each country and be prepared to face the consequences. Considering Korea's laws related to drugs, sounds like he got off easy.

Patong Dong · Joined: 06 May 2003 Location: On Nut

I am not into a drug scene regardless of what country I am in (drinking to excess works well enough) but being stuck in the monkey house for so long because of ecstasy is a bit over the top. But that is what I meant by him not having some clue as to why he was being held, if I was tossed behind bars the recent highly illegal act of taking E would have occurred to me as a likely explanation, I don't think it would have been dismissed out of hand at least.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

It wasn't in his possession. They pulled a hair follicle and found traces of past usage. This was enough to put him away.

Looking back he thinks it was an ex-gf who was out to get him post-relationship. She was really well connected.. its the only conclusion he can come up with.

komtengi · Joined: 30 Sep 2003 Location: Slummin it up in Haebangchon

unlike back home possesion is irrelevant. Im sure its been brought up before but you could go home for a vacation, pop some pills/have a smoke, and when you get back to Korea you can have a hair follicle test. If there is any junk in your system, no questions asked.... in the klink.
Also if you turn informer, you can save your own arse.

Ive had two run ins with the law for fighting here... and it costs alot of money to get out of the poo... basically you can get away without a criminal record by negotiating a price with the victim.... cool, but put my arse in debt. Basically the more messed up the more you pay. Also self defence is a moot claim. Personally I think this is crap. You get in trouble for being a better fighter, but the other guy may have laid into you initially. Back home people take it on the chin, and realise they were a smart arse, or lost a fair fight... not here.
As for the cops, you couldnt pay me a million bucks to be one here, they get no respect. I tried it on with them when they tried to put me in cuffs, knocking crap over. I eventually gave in when they called in a third guy to try and subdue me.
No, Im not trying to do this to sound cool. But it has taught me a valuable lesson. These days I take the verbal attacks and laugh at the fools that try it on. Steer clear of trouble, or if your gonna fight throw a punch or two and run, Forrest run. Or make sure you've got cashflow to buy a get out of jail card.

TECO · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

Komtengi:

What kind of money you talking about here?

You really hurt someone, or what?

komtengi · Joined: 30 Sep 2003 Location: Slummin it up in Haebangchon

one time my friend and I paid out 2 million for one guy...
the second time cost me 10 million for two people... 5 a head, even the cops said I got dicked on that one. But beats deportation. The worst thing was I needed to get the cash in 24 hours, and luckily I had a great roommate.

and Im not talking crap with the price.... feel free to go and ask the guy that lent me the cash, or or the cops in the foreign department at yongsan police station

TECO · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

You're talking $13,000 Cdn. for fighting Question

That aint no small change, is it.

sounds like incentive enough to avoid any trouble