Legal Guides
Practical guides to the legal situations foreigners actually face in Korea. Written by a Korean attorney who speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese — and who has lived the gap between systems you're now navigating.
Civil Claims & Debt Recovery
A Korean judgment moves no money by itself. Attachment, auction, seizure — what each one reaches, what the law protects, and the freeze that has to come before the win.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
Interpretation covers the hearing, not the file. The order a Korean hearing runs in, custody from the courtroom, and the seven days that start at pronouncement.
Read ArticleLabor & Employment
Below five employees, a sixty-hour week can owe nothing extra. The premiums, the leave that becomes cash when you leave, and the clause that tries to absorb both.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
48-hour detention, recorded interrogations, separate prosecutor questioning — 7 features of Korean criminal procedure that shock foreigners, and what to do.
Read ArticleCriminal Defamation
In Korea, defamation is criminal — even if what you said is true. The penalties (up to 7 years online), real complaint scenarios, and how to protect yourself.
Read ArticleCorporate & Business
Company structures, visas (D-8/D-9), employee-friendly labor law, taxes, licenses — the 7 things that catch foreign founders off guard, plus the full process.
Read ArticleFamily Law
Korean courts may have jurisdiction even if you married abroad. Consensual vs. contested divorce, fault, asset division, custody, and recognition back home.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
Korea's limit is 0.03% — two drinks can put you over. Penalties, visa consequences, scooters, and what to do if you're pulled over.
Read ArticleLabor & Employment
No at-will firing, mandatory severance after 1 year, no arbitrary deductions — 7 rights most foreign workers in Korea don't know they have.
Read ArticleReal Estate & Leasing
Deposit-based leasing can cost you your life savings. Red flags, registry checks, guarantee insurance, and how to recover a withheld jeonse deposit.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
Zero tolerance means exactly that. Testing, detention, deportation risk, and why "it was legal where I'm from" isn't a defense in Korea.
Read ArticleLabor & Employment
Workers' compensation applies regardless of visa or documentation status — most foreign workers just don't know it. How to claim what you're owed.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
Fines, entry bans, and detention are all on the table — but overstaying doesn't always mean deportation. Voluntary departure, orders, and appeal options.
Read ArticleFamily Law
Custody, parental rights, and the Hague Convention work differently when one parent isn't Korean. What international parents need to know.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
A bar fight or a shove can become a criminal case fast. Assault vs. bodily injury, why settlement matters so much, and the immigration risk.
Read ArticleLabor & Employment
Wage theft claims run through a labor office, not a courtroom — and they apply regardless of visa or documentation status. How the process actually works.
Read ArticleTraffic & Accidents
Insurance, fault-ratio tables, and a separate criminal track for injuries all move at once. What to do at the scene and how fault is actually decided.
Read ArticleInheritance & Estate
Debt inherits along with assets, and the deadline to reject it is just three months. What foreign spouses and children need to know.
Read ArticlePensions & Benefits
Eligibility for the lump-sum refund (반환일시금) depends on your nationality's reciprocity agreement with Korea. Who qualifies, and how the process works.
Read ArticleLabor & Employment
Korea doesn't allow at-will firing. How unfair dismissal (부당해고) claims work, the 3-month filing deadline, and what remedies look like.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
Income requirements, cohabitation proof, and interview screening catch many couples off guard. The real F-6 process, explained.
Read ArticleReal Estate & Leasing
There's no general ban on foreign ownership — but a 60-day acquisition report, permit zones, and fund-source checks trip people up. The full process.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
Points-based, marriage, investment, and overseas-Korean routes all lead to F-5 differently. Which pathway actually fits your visa history.
Read ArticleLabor & Employment
Protection applies regardless of visa status — but the reporting process and employer obligations work differently than back home. How to actually report it.
Read ArticleTraffic & Accidents
Camera fines, officer-issued tickets, and a points system that stacks silently across separate violations. How suspensions happen, and how to contest a fine.
Read ArticleFamily Law
Unpaid child support (양육비) is a widespread problem, but wage garnishment, travel bans, and a dedicated enforcement agency give parents real tools to collect.
Read ArticlePersonal Safety
Korea's Anti-Stalking Act lets police issue emergency no-contact measures within hours. How to report it — and what to do if a measure is issued against you.
Read ArticleCivil Claims & Debt Recovery
A withheld deposit or an unpaid invoice doesn't require a lawyer to recover in Korea. How the 소액사건심판 process and its 이행권고결정 shortcut actually work.
Read ArticleDebt & Bankruptcy
Personal rehabilitation (개인회생) and personal bankruptcy (개인파산) offer a legal path out of overwhelming debt. Eligibility, process, and visa consequences for foreigners.
Read ArticleReal Estate & Leasing
Floor noise (층간소음) is one of the most common apartment conflicts in Korea — and there's a free government mediation system built for it. How the process actually works.
Read ArticleHealth Insurance & Benefits
Enrollment in national health insurance (건강보험) is mandatory after 6 months, not optional. Employer vs. local subscriber status, premiums, arrears, and the visa renewal risk of not paying.
Read ArticleTraffic & Accidents
Your international driving permit only covers your first year in Korea. Which countries skip the road test, the document checklist, and what happens if you're late.
Read ArticleLabor & Employment
Owed to anyone who worked a year or more, regardless of visa status or why the job ended. How it's calculated, the 14-day payment deadline, and how to file a complaint.
Read ArticleTax Law
Whether you're taxed on worldwide income or Korea-source income only depends on your tax residency (거주자) status. The 183-day rule, filing obligations, and tax treaty relief, explained.
Read ArticleReal Estate & Leasing
A landlord's duty to return your deposit (보증금) doesn't depend on finding a new tenant. The lease registration order, demand letters, and how to force payment.
Read ArticleNationality & Military Service
Missing the nationality renunciation (국적이탈) deadline can lock a dual national into Korean citizenship. The deadline, the overseas exception, and the 2022 special permission process.
Read ArticleFinancial Crime & Fraud
Voice phishing (보이스피싱) drains victims' accounts, and can also turn a foreigner who hands over a bank card into a criminal suspect. The freeze process, and how money-mule investigations actually work.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
E-9 and E-7 visa holders generally can't just quit and start a new job. How the workplace change permit (사업장 변경허가) process works, and what happens if you fall out of status.
Read ArticleReal Estate & Leasing
Self-help eviction (자력구제) — changed locks, removed belongings — is illegal. The real eviction lawsuit (명도소송) process, and the tenant protections landlords hope you don't know about.
Read ArticleNationality & Military Service
Permanent residency (F-5) is not citizenship. The three naturalization (귀화) tracks, the language and culture test, and the dual nationality rules most applicants get wrong.
Read ArticleDebt & Bankruptcy
Late-night calls, threats to contact your employer, interest rates that don't add up — illegal debt collection (불법추심) is a crime, not just aggressive business. The Fair Debt Collection Act, explained.
Read ArticlePersonal Safety
Sunflower Centers (해바라기센터), the free victim's attorney system (피해자 국선변호사), and how the reporting process actually works for a foreign victim in Korea.
Read ArticlePersonal Safety
Emergency measures (응급조치), protective orders (보호처분), and why an F-6 marriage visa doesn't have to depend on staying with an abusive spouse.
Read ArticleConsumer Protection
The cooling-off period (청약철회), free mediation through the Korea Consumer Agency (한국소비자원), card chargebacks, and when a bad purchase becomes fraud (사기).
Read ArticleFinancial Crime & Fraud
Fake exchanges, romance investment schemes, and rug pulls under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act (가상자산이용자보호법) — reporting channels and why recovery differs from a bank scam.
Read ArticleLabor & Employment
Unpaid salary, cut hours, or a firing with no notice — a foreign teacher's rights under Korean labor law, the E-2 visa risk of speaking up, and how to actually recover what you're owed.
Read ArticleMedical Malpractice & Patient Rights
How negligence is proven, the burden-of-proof problem foreign patients face, mediation through K-MEDI vs. a civil lawsuit, and the 3-year deadline to act.
Read ArticleFamily Law
How the School Violence Prevention Act process and the School Violence Committee (학폭위) hearing actually work — for foreign families on either side of a case.
Read ArticleFamily Law
Korea is a Hague Convention country. How the return process actually works, the 1-year clock, and the narrow defenses that can stop a return order.
Read ArticleFamily Law
What a Korean marital property agreement can and can't cover, why registration timing matters, and the drafting mistakes that get prenups invalidated.
Read ArticleTax Law
Tax residency status decides whether your worldwide crypto gains are taxed in Korea. Reporting obligations, thresholds, and what foreign holders get wrong.
Read ArticleFamily Law
Eligibility, the mandatory home study, and why Family Court approval is not a formality — adoption in Korea explained for foreign residents.
Read ArticleNationality & Military Service
Name change after naturalization runs through Family Court, not the district office counter. The standard judges apply, and why some petitions get denied.
Read ArticleLabor & Employment
Delivery riders and platform workers now fall under a specific legal category with its own insurance rights. Where foreign gig workers get misclassified.
Read ArticleReal Estate & Leasing
One renewal, a 5% rent cap, and a short list of reasons a landlord can refuse — the lease renewal right explained for foreign tenants.
Read ArticleLabor & Employment
Coverage rules differ by visa type, and how your job ended matters more than the 180-day rule. What foreign workers get wrong about claiming 실업급여.
Read ArticleDocuments & Authentication
Which agency certifies which document, and why apostille doesn't work everywhere — document authentication explained for foreign residents.
Read ArticleInheritance & Estate
Five statutory will forms, strict formality rules, and the forced heirship (유류분) claims that can override what the will says — explained for foreign residents.
Read ArticleLabor & Employment
Employers must investigate every complaint and can't retaliate — what counts as workplace bullying (직장 내 괴롭힘) under Korean labor law, and how to report it.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
Near-permanent residency without employer sponsorship, and a short list of jobs it still doesn't allow — F-4 eligibility and limits explained.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
A one-semester waiting period, hour caps tied to your Korean ability, and jobs that are off-limits no matter what — the part-time work permit explained.
Read ArticleTax Law
Money from parents abroad or property put in a spouse's name can trigger gift tax — who counts as a taxable recipient, and the 3-month filing deadline.
Read ArticleFamily Law
Property division works almost like a divorce, but inheritance and marriage-visa eligibility don't exist at all — de facto marriage explained for foreign partners.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
It doesn't have to be false to be a crime. How insult (모욕죄) differs from defamation, the public-perception requirement, and the six-month complaint deadline.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
Which jobs actually qualify, the employer sponsorship hurdles behind the scenes, and the points-based route for upgrading from a skilled worker visa.
Read ArticlePrivacy & Data Protection
Access, correction, and deletion rights, mandatory breach notification, and statutory damages you can claim without proving financial loss.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
The Employment Permit System, the narrow grounds for a workplace change, and why your departure insurance is effectively your severance pay.
Read ArticleTax Law
How the flat rate compares to the progressive tax schedule, who it actually benefits, and the filing mistakes that cost refunds.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
What actually separates criminal fraud from a broken business deal, why disputes get filed as police complaints, and how to respond to a summons.
Read ArticleLabor & Employment
A probation period lowers the notice you're owed, not the requirement that a dismissal have justifiable cause. What's still protected, and what to do if you were let go.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
Korean law looks at where the bettor is, not where the site is licensed. Penalties, visa consequences, and what to do if you're contacted by police.
Read ArticleIntellectual Property
Korea's first-to-file trademark system means someone else can register your brand before you do. What's protected automatically, and what isn't.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
A departure order and a deportation order carry very different re-entry bans. The seven-day objection window, detention release, and how long you're kept out.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
Which visa categories allow dependents, which don't, and why a legally resident spouse still cannot take a part-time job without separate permission.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
One fraud report can lock your entire balance and block new accounts. Why it hits innocent foreigners, and what to do in the first week.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
Your status belongs to one employer, not to teaching. Workplace change permission, private tutoring, and what happens when a hagwon contract collapses.
Read ArticleFamily Law
Korea grants nationality by parentage, not birthplace. The deadline nobody mentions at the hospital, and what changes when one parent is Korean.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
No hearing, no trial, seven days to object. Why paying the fine is how you accept a conviction — and what it costs at your next visa renewal.
Read ArticleFamily Law
The ceremony marries nobody. What the district office requires from a foreign spouse, and why the marriage and the F-6 visa are separate matters.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
Forty-eight hours, then a judge decides whether you stay locked up until trial. Why foreigners are read as flight risks, and what has to be ready before the hearing.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
A status that belongs to you rather than your employer. How the points table works, where applications fail, and why it shortens the road to permanent residency.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
Fourteen days to report a move, and a fine that looks trivial. What the record does to your next renewal, and how to cure reports you already missed.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
Reporting is not complaining. What the document has to contain, why so many cases end in non-prosecution, and the two appeal routes with short deadlines.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
Permission to look for work, not to do it. How the points assessment is scored, what the extensions require, and the part-time trap that ends the status early.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
Decided on an interview, refused far more often than granted, appealed on clocks measured in days. What the airport route costs, and where humanitarian stay fits.
Read ArticleBanking & Foreign Exchange
The bank is refusing a category, not an amount. What each kind of money has to prove, why splitting a transfer is the worst possible fix, and the order to do things in when you leave.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
Settlement no longer ends the case. Registration, employment restriction, and the visa consequences that a fine alone can still trigger.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
Foreigners get a suspension, not a ban — and most find out at the check-in counter. The five grounds, the extension cycle, and the request that actually gets it lifted.
Read ArticleCivil Claims & Debt Recovery
A payment order gives you two weeks, a complaint gives you thirty days. Which envelope is which, what the objection actually does, and the late appeal when the papers never reached you.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
The easiest long-stay visa to get and to lose. Why attendance is the visa, what part-time work permission requires, and when to move to a D-2 before the record turns.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
Taking, sharing, keeping, and watching are four separate offences. What the forensic examination recovers, and the registration and visa consequences that outlast the fine.
Read ArticleLabor & Employment
Two years converts your status by operation of law — unless an exception applies. When a non-renewal counts as a dismissal, and the three-month deadline that decides it.
Read ArticleCivil Claims & Debt Recovery
A judgment against an empty account is worth nothing. What can be frozen without notice to the debtor, what security costs, and the counter-move that lifts the order.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
Divorce does not automatically end the visa — but F-6-3 turns on proving the Korean spouse’s fault (귀책사유), and a divorce by agreement proves nothing. The route through a child, and what to secure first.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
Three routes, a 90-day clock, and one thing that cannot wait: filing does not stop removal. Why suspension of execution (집행정지) is the real application, and what actually persuades.
Read ArticleCivil Claims & Debt Recovery
Ten years, three years, three months, seven days — and they run from earlier than you think. How to interrupt a period, and the rule that catches people who left Korea with something unresolved.
Read ArticleCriminal Defense
For some offences a settlement does not reduce the sentence — it ends the prosecution. Which ones, the deadline that closes the option, and what the written agreement has to say.
Read ArticleImmigration & Visas
A visa is permission to travel, not to enter. What secondary inspection involves, why the statement you sign outlasts the interview, and the difference between one refusal and a ban.
Read ArticleDocuments & Authentication
Korea keeps two records, and a suspended indictment (기소유예) sits on the one people forget. Which certificate shows what, who may request it, and when the entries lapse.
Read Article