CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS
The purpose of this Act is to protect the victims of the crime of stalking and to contribute to the establishment of the healthy order of society by prescribing special cases concerning the punishment of the crime of stalking and the procedures therefor and the procedures for protecting victims of the crime of stalking.
The terms used in this Act are defined as follows:
| 1. | The term "act of stalking" means engaging in any of the following acts directed at the other person or a member of the other person’s household or family against the will of the other person, without good reason, which causes the other person anxiety or fear: |
| (a) | An act of approaching or following the other person or obstructing the other person’s path; |
| (b) | An act of waiting for or observing the other person at the other person’s residence, workplace, or school, or other places of daily life (hereinafter referred to as "residence, etc."), or the vicinity thereof; |
| (c) | An act of having things, written or verbal statements, codes, sound, drawings, pictures, or video images (hereinafter referred to as "things, etc.") delivered by mail, telephone, facsimile, or information and communications networks defined in Article 2 (1) 1 of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection; |
| (d) | An act of having things, etc. delivered directly or through a third person or placing things, etc. in the other person’s residence, etc. or the vicinity thereof; |
| (e) | An act of damaging things, etc. placed in the other person’s residence, etc. or the vicinity thereof; |
| 2. | The term "crime of stalking" means engaging in a repeated or continuing act of stalking; |
| 3. | The term "victim" means any person who has suffered direct harm as a result of the crime of stalking; |
| 4. | The term "victim, etc." means a victim and a person who has been subjected to the act of stalking. |
CHAPTER II PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING CRIME OF STALKING
| Article 3 (Emergency Measures upon Receiving Reports on Act of Stalking) |
Upon receiving a report on any ongoing act of stalking, a judicial police officer shall immediately arrive at the scene of the act and take the following measures:
| 1. | Restraining the act of stalking, issuing notices to stop the act of stalking, and warning of punishment in cases of a repeated or continuing act of stalking; |
| 2. | Separating the stalker and the victim, etc. and conducting criminal investigation; |
| 3. | Informing the victim, etc. of procedures for requesting urgent emergency measures and provisional measures, etc.; |
| 4. | Delivering the victim, etc. to a counseling center or shelter related to the damage of stalking (limited to cases where the victim, etc. consents thereto). |
| Article 4 (Urgent Emergency Measures) |
| (1) | If an act of stalking is likely to be continuously or repeatedly committed and if it is urgently necessary to prevent the crime of stalking in connection with a report on an act of stalking, a judicial police officer may, ex officio or upon request of the person who has been subjected to the act of stalking or such person’s legal representative or of the person who has reported the act of stalking, take the following measures against the stalker: |
| 1. | Prohibiting the stalker from coming within 100 meters of the person who has been subjected to the act of stalking or such person’s residence, etc.; |
| (2) | Upon taking a measure under paragraph (1) (hereinafter referred to as "urgent emergency measure”), a judicial police officer shall immediately prepare a written decision on an urgent emergency measure which includes the summary of the act of stalking, the reasons for the necessity of the urgent emergency measure, the details of the urgent emergency measure, etc. |
| Article 5 (Application for Approval for Urgent Emergency Measures) |
| (1) | Upon taking an urgent emergency measure, a judicial police officer shall, without delay, file an application with a prosecutor to request a judge of the competent district court to grant ex post facto approval for the relevant urgent emergency measure. |
| (2) | The prosecutor in receipt of an application under paragraph (1) shall request a judge of the competent district court to grant ex post facto approval for the relevant urgent emergency measure within 48 hours from the time the urgent emergency measure is taken. In such cases, a written decision on an urgent emergency measure prepared under Article 4 (2) shall be annexed thereto. |
| (3) | Where a judge of the competent district court deems it necessary to prevent an act of stalking from being continuously or repeatedly committed, he or she may approve the urgent emergency measure requested under paragraph (2). |
| (4) | When a prosecutor does not request ex post facto approval for an urgent emergency measure pursuant to paragraph (2) or a judge of the competent district court does not grant ex post facto approval for the request made under paragraph (2), a judicial police officer shall immediately revoke such urgent emergency measure. |
| (5) | The period of an urgent emergency measure shall not exceed one month. |
| Article 6 (Notification of Urgent Emergency Measures) |
| (1) | If a judicial police officer takes an urgent emergency measure, he or she shall notify the person who has been subjected to the act of stalking or such person’s legal representative thereof. |
| (2) | Where a judicial police officer takes an urgent emergency measure, he or she shall inform a person subject to the relevant urgent emergency measure (hereinafter referred to as "person subject to an urgent emergency measure") of the details of the measure taken, methods for raising an objection to such measure, etc. |
| Article 7 (Change of Urgent Emergency Measures) |
| (1) | A person subject to an urgent emergency measure or his or her legal representative may file an application with a judicial police officer to revoke the urgent emergency measure or to change the category thereof. |
| (2) | If a person who has been subjected to an act of stalking relocates his or her residence, etc. after an urgent emergency measure under Article 4 (1) 1 is taken, he or she or his or her legal representative may file an application with the judicial police officer to change the urgent emergency measure. |
| (3) | If no urgent emergency measure is necessary, a person who has been subjected to an act of stalking or his or her legal representative may file an application with the judicial police officer to revoke the relevant urgent emergency measure. |
| (4) | Where a judicial police officer deems that there is good cause, he or she may revoke the relevant urgent emergency measure, ex officio or upon receipt of an application under paragraphs (1) through (3), and change the category of such urgent emergency measure with approval of the judge of the competent district court. |
| (5) | An urgent emergency measure (including where its category is changed pursuant to paragraph (4); hereafter in this paragraph, the same shall apply) shall cease to be effective in any of the following cases: |
| 1. | Where a period prescribed by the urgent emergency measure has passed; |
| 2. | Where the court makes any of the following decisions for a person subject to an urgent emergency measure: |
| (a) | A decision to take a measure under Article 9 (1) 2 where the victim is the same as the person who has been subjected to the act of stalking and for whom the urgent emergency measure has been taken under Article 4 (1) 1; |
| (b) | A decision to take a measure under Article 9 (1) 2, where the residence, etc. of a victim (limited to where the victim is the same as the person who has been subjected to the act of stalking) is the same as the residence, etc. provided in an urgent emergency measure under Article 4 (1) 1; |
| (c) | A decision to take a measure under Article 9 (1) 3 where the victim is the same as the person who has been subjected to the act of stalking and for whom the urgent emergency measure has been taken under Article 4 (1) 2. |
| Article 8 (Requests for Provisional Measures) |
| (1) | Where a prosecutor deems that a crime of stalking is likely to reoccur, he or she may file a request with the court for a provisional measure prescribed in the subparagraphs of Article 9 (1), either ex officio or upon request of a judicial police officer. |
| (2) | A victim or his or her legal representative may file a request with a prosecutor or judicial police officer for a provisional measure under paragraph (1), or state his or her opinions thereon. |
| (3) | If a judicial police officer does not file an application for a provisional measure prescribed in paragraph (1) even after receiving a request for application under paragraph (2), he or she shall report the grounds therefor to the relevant prosecutor. |
| Article 9 (Provisional Measures against Stalkers) |
| (1) | The court may, by its ruling, take any of the following measures (hereinafter referred to as “provisional measure”) against a stalker, where deemed necessary to facilitate the investigation and examination of a crime of stalking or to protect a victim: |
| 1. | Issuing a written warning to the stalker to stop the crime of stalking against the victim; |
| 2. | Prohibiting the stalker from coming within 100 meters of the victim or the victim’s residence, etc.; |
| 4. | Detaining the stalker in a detention cell or detention center of a national police agency. |
| (2) | The provisional measures referred to in the subparagraphs of paragraph (1) may be imposed concurrently. |
| (3) | If a court decides to take a provisional measure, it shall notify the public prosecutor, the victim, and the legal representative thereof. |
| (4) | If a court has taken a provisional measure under paragraph (1) 4, it shall notify the stalker of the right to counsel and to file a complaint under Article 12, and shall notify persons classified as follows of the fact that the provisional measure has been taken: |
| 1. | Where the stalker has a defense counsel: The defense counsel; |
| 2. | Where the stalker has no defense counsel: A person designated by the legal representative or the stalker. |
| (5) | The period for a provisional measure under paragraph (1) 2 and 3 shall not exceed two months and the period for a provisional measure under subparagraph 4 of that paragraph shall not exceed one month: Provided, That if it is deemed necessary to extend the period for the protection of a victim, the court may, by its ruling, extend the period for a provisional measure under paragraph (1) 2 and 3 up to two times, each by an additional two months. |
| Article 10 (Enforcement of Provisional Measures) |
| (1) | If the court decides to take a provisional measure, it may have court officials, judicial police officers, or correctional public officials under the jurisdiction of a detention center to enforce such measure. |
| (2) | Any person who enforces a decision to take a provisional measure under paragraph (1) shall notify the stalker of the details thereof, the methods for raising an objection, etc. |
| (3) | Where a victim relocates his or her residence, etc. after a decision to take a provisional measure is made under Article 9 (1) 2, the victim or his or her legal representative may file an application with the court to change the decision to take the provisional measure. |
| Article 11 (Change of Provisional Measures) |
| (1) | A stalker or his or her legal representative may file an application with the court to revoke a decision to take a provisional measure or change the category of such provisional measure. |
| (2) | Where a prosecutor deems that a provisional measure is continuously necessary in the course of investigation or trial, he or she may request the court to extend the period of the relevant provisional measure or to change the category thereof, and where he or she deems the provisional measure unnecessary, he or she may request the court to revoke the relevant provisional measure. |
| (3) | The court may, by its ruling, revoke the relevant provisional measure, extend the period thereof, or change the category thereof, ex officio or upon receiving an application under paragraph (1) or a request under (2), if it deems that there exists good cause. |
| (4) | A decision to take a provisional measure (including a decision to extend the period for a provisional measure or change the category thereof under paragraph (3); hereafter in Articles 12 and 14, the same shall apply) shall cease to be effective when the prosecutor takes a non-prosecution disposition against the stalker or when the judicial police officer decides not to transfer the case. |
| (1) | Where a decision to take an urgent emergency measure or provisional measure falls under any of the following, a prosecutor, a stalker, or his or her legal representative may file a complaint: |
| 1. | Where there is a violation of a statute or regulation or a mistake of a material fact, which has influenced the decision; |
| 2. | Where the relevant decision is manifestly unreasonable. |
| (2) | A complaint under paragraph (1) shall be lodged within seven days from the date the decision is notified. |
| Article 13 (Filing of Written Complaints) |
| (1) | When a complaint is filed under Article 12, a written complaint shall be submitted to the lower court. |
| (2) | The court in receipt of a written complaint shall send relevant records accompanied by written opinions, to the appellate court within three days from the receipt of such written complaint. |
| Article 14 (Trial of Complaints) |
| (1) | The appellate court shall, by its ruling, dismiss a complaint if it deems that the complaint procedure has violated a statute or that there is no ground for the complaint. |
| (2) | Where the appellate court deems that a complaint is well-grounded, it shall remand the case to the lower court or transfer it to another competent court, after revoking an original decision: Provided, That it may quash the original decision and make a decision to take a provisional measure, at its discretion, where it is too urgent to remand or transfer the case or where it is deemed necessary on other grounds. |
| Article 15 (Further Complaints) |
| (1) | A further complaint may be filed with the Supreme Court against a decision to dismiss a complaint, only if such decision is in violation of any statutes or regulations. |
| (2) | Articles 12 (2), 13, and 14 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the period of a further complaint under paragraph (1), submission of a petition of a further complaint, and trial of a further complaint. |
| Article 16 (Non-Suspension of Enforcement) |
Neither complaint nor further complaint shall have the effect of suspending the enforcement of a decision.
| Article 17 (Exclusive Investigation System for Victims of Crime of Stalking) |
| (1) | The Prosecutor General shall have the chief prosecutor of each district prosecutors' office designate public prosecutors in exclusive charge of the crime of stalking to investigate the victims of such crimes, in the absence of exceptional circumstances. |
| (2) | The chief of a police agency (referring to the chief of the National Office of Investigation, the commissioner of a City/Do police agency, and the chief of a police station; hereinafter the same shall apply) shall designate judicial police officers in exclusive charge of the crime of stalking to investigate the victims of such crime, in the absence of exceptional circumstances. |
| (3) | The Prosecutor General and the chief of a police agency shall provide prosecutors in exclusive charge of the crime of staking referred to in paragraph (1) and judicial police officers in exclusive charge of the crime of stalking referred to in paragraph (2) with education on investigative methods, investigative procedures, etc. necessary to investigate the crime of stalking. |
CHAPTER III PENALTY PROVISIONS
| Article 18 (Crime of Stalking) |
| (1) | A person who commits a crime of stalking shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not more than three years or by a fine not exceeding 30 million won. |
| (2) | A person who commits a crime of stalking by carrying or using a deadly weapon or other dangerous thing shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not more than five years or by a fine not exceeding 50 million won. |
| (3) | A crime referred to in paragraph (1) shall not be prosecuted against the expressed will of the victim. |
| Article 19 (Concurrent Imposition of Punishment and Order to Attend Educational Programs) |
| (1) | Where a court convicts a person who has committed a crime of stalking (excluding suspension of sentence) or notifies such person of a summary order, it may issue to him or her an order to attend an educational program (referring to an order to attend an educational program under the Act on Probation; hereinafter the same shall apply) or an order to complete a stalking treatment program (hereinafter referred to as "order to complete a program") for up to 200 hours, concurrently with such sentence, as may be necessary to prevent recidivism, according to the following classifications: |
| 1. | An order to attend an educational program: Such order may be concurrently imposed within the period of suspended execution where the execution of a sentence is suspended; |
| 2. | An order to complete a program: Such order may be concurrently imposed where a sentence of a fine or imprisonment with labor is imposed or where a summary order is notified. |
| (2) | If the court suspends the execution of a sentence for a person who has committed a crime of stalking, it may concurrently issue either of probation disposition or community service disposition, or both dispositions within the period of suspended execution in addition to an order to attend an educational program under paragraph (1). |
| (3) | Details of an order to attend an educational program or an order to complete a program under paragraph (1) shall be as follows: |
| 1. | Diagnosing stalking behaviors and counseling thereon; |
| 2. | Education regarding sound social order and human rights; |
| 3. | Other matters necessary to prevent persons who have committed the crime of stalking from repeat offending. |
| (4) | An order to attend an educational program or an order to complete a program under paragraph (1) shall be enforced according to the following classifications: |
| 1. | Where the execution of a sentence is suspended: Within the period of suspended execution; |
| 2. | Where a sentence of a fine is imposed or a summary order is notified: Within six months from the date the sentence becomes final and conclusive; |
| 3. | Where the offender is sentenced to imprisonment with labor: Within the term of sentence. |
| (5) | Where an order to attend an educational program or an order to complete a program under paragraph (1) is imposed concurrently with the sentence of a fine or the suspension of the execution of sentence, it shall be executed by the director of a probation office, and where it is imposed concurrently with the sentence of imprisonment with labor, it shall be executed by the director of a correctional facility: Provided, That if an offender is released or provisionally released from prison prior to the fulfillment of an order to complete a program imposed concurrently with the sentence of imprisonment with labor or if the execution of punishment becomes impossible for reasons, such as the inclusion of the number of days of detention pending a court decision, the remainder of such order shall be enforced by the director of a probation office. |
| (6) | With respect to the matters, other than those prescribed by this Act, concerning probation, community service, an order to attend an educational program, or an order to complete a program imposed concurrently with punishment, the Act on Probation shall apply mutatis mutandis. |
| Article 20 (Crime of Non-Compliance with Provisional Measures) |
A person who fails to comply with a provisional measure under Article 9 (1) 2 or 3 shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not more than two years or by a fine not exceeding 20 million won.
| Article 21 (Administrative Fines) |
| (1) | Any person who fails to comply with an urgent emergency measure (excluding cases where a prosecutor does not request ex post facto approval for an urgent emergency measure under Article 5 (2) or a judge of a district court does not grant approval under paragraph (3) of that Article) without good cause shall be subject to an administrative fine not exceeding 10 million won. |
| (2) | A person in receipt of an order to attend an educational program or an order to complete a program under Article 19 (1), who without good cause fails to comply with an instruction of the head of a probation office or the head of a correctional facility regarding obeying the order to attend an educational order or the order to complete a program and thus has received a warning under the Act on Probation or the Administration and Treatment of Correctional Institution Inmates Act and again without good cause fails to comply with the instruction, shall be subject to an administrative fine not exceeding five million won. |
| (3) | An administrative fine under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be imposed and collected by the head of the relevant administrative agency, as prescribed by Presidential Decree. |
ADDENDUM <Act No. 18083, Apr. 20, 2021>
This Act shall enter into force six months after the date of its promulgation.