Korean Job Discussion Forums

stevieg4ever · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Location: London, England

...you can you exercise 'reasonable force' in a bid to defend yourself (or this also something that doesnt exist in Korean law) against the assailant?

ChuckECheese · Joined: 20 Jul 2006

Self-defense law? There's no such a thing in Korea.

You would just have to kick ass, haul ass, and disappear.

SuperHero · Joined: 10 Dec 2003 Location: Superhero Hideout

in a fight the person who wins is the one who pays compensation regardless of who started the fight.

ChuckECheese · Joined: 20 Jul 2006

blackjack · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Location: anyang

what about if you are attacked inside your house? Does anybody really know or are they just repeating what they have heard from other people?. Surely if somebody attacks you while you are at home and you manage to overpower them and in the process break their nose you can not get done.

also who has to power to press charges? in new zealand and i am sure australia it is the police that press charges not the individual. (example in a domestic if the women/man does not want to press charge, but the police have evidence then they can still press charges. In my (very limited) understanding in the states they can't?

ChuckECheese · Joined: 20 Jul 2006

blackjack · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Location: anyang

but the police can not convict you, the most they could do is press charges, unless you are in a situation where you are surrounded by his friends (where getting done by the cops would be the least of my worries) then there would be people to back you up.

As a side note most of the cops that i have met have been great, helpful and want to try to understand (granted i have not been 'in trouble' since i have been here).

I just find it hard to believe that if you get attacked and he ends up getting hurt (not counting excessive force). that it could go to court and you end up getting convicted. is there anybody who actually has been in that situation (and i don't mean a friend or a friend of a friend)

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

I heard of a foreign guy accused of kicking a Korean (prostitute) in the stomach.

Accused, not proved. It was just the Korean's word.

(Apparently he did not even do it.)

He got fined 300,000 won.

Hater Depot · Joined: 29 Mar 2005

babtangee · Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 6:27 am Post subject:

It rarely goes to court. The cops will encourage the individual who came off best to compensate the individual who got their head beaten. The cops don't want to go to court. That would just suck. If you are not going to help them avoid having to do the paperwork and court appearances involved in an unsettled dispute, you can be sure they won't be on your side.

My wife's cousin is a copper in Kangnam. This isn't exactly what I was told, but it was the jist of it. I'll ask him directly next time I see him.

stevieg4ever · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Location: London, England

I kind of assumed it was like that, the person who incurs the most injuries receives the compensation. unless there is a foreigner involved as it appears from some of the accounts.

it seems to be some rather ambiguous ground here and i was wondering if anyone had actually been in this situation and could verify what the law is or not.

Hater Depot · Joined: 29 Mar 2005

babtangee, that's interesting... so it's not really written in the law that way, it's just how the cops choose to sort things out?

doggyji · Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 8:06 pm Post subject:

Of course, 정당방위 law exists.

http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?docid=135882

How it's actually enforced in each case might be the real question. It reminds me of those 유학생(Korean students abroad) stories where bullying kids get away with their perfect English. One of my Korean friends had such a tough life in high school when he first came to Canada.

Pyongshin Sangja · Joined: 20 Apr 2003 Location: I love baby!

Yes, yes. All things are relative, everything in Korea is just as bad everywhere else.

babtangee · Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:31 pm Post subject: