Your Police Case in Korea Is Closed? What "Referral" and "Non-Referral" Mean for Foreigners

When a police investigation ends in Korea, one of two things happens: the police refer the case to a prosecutor (songchi, 송치), or they close it with a reasoned non-referral decision (bulsongchi, 불송치). Neither word means what people fear. Referral is not a conviction, and non-referral is not always the end.

The notice usually arrives as a text message or registered mail, in Korean, quoting a case number and an agency name. Since October 2026 that agency name has changed for everyone, Koreans included: documents now come from a District Public Prosecution Office (지방공소청), because Korea reorganized its prosecution system this autumn. If you are a foreigner holding a document like this — or waiting for one — here is what each outcome actually means, and what is worth doing on the day it arrives. I am Jaewon Lee, a Korean attorney who handles criminal matters for English-speaking clients in Seoul.
https://www.lawyerseoul.com/blog/questioned-by-the-korean-police-what-foreigners-should-know

What does "referral to the prosecution" (송치) mean?

If the police conclude that the suspicion is supported, they must refer the case to a prosecutor without delay, together with the records and evidence (Criminal Procedure Act, Article 245-5). Referral means one thing only: the file has moved from the police to a prosecutor. It is not an indictment, and it is very far from a finding of guilt.

What happens next is shaped by the 2026 reorganization. Under the new Public Prosecution Office Act, the prosecutor's role centers on deciding whether to indict and on maintaining that prosecution — rather than on investigating the case directly, which is now in principle the police's domain. In practice, the prosecutor reads the file, may have points supplemented, and then decides whether your case goes to court.

For the person under investigation, this review window matters more than most people realize. Written opinions and additional materials can still reach the decision-maker at this stage, through counsel. The time to plan that is when the referral notice arrives — not after an indictment is filed, when the case has already changed shape.

Is a non-referral (불송치) decision the end of the case?

Often, yes — but not automatically, and this is where people get caught out. When the police decide not to refer, they must still send the records, with a written statement of reasons, to the prosecutor, who reviews them and returns them within 90 days (Article 245-5, paragraph 1, item 2). The prosecutor can ask the police to look again. And the person who filed the complaint against you can object, which revives the case, as explained below.

So if you were the suspect and you receive a non-referral decision: keep every document. Do not treat the file as closed until the review period and any objection have run their course. If the case does come back, the record of what you said the first time will be read again.

You filed the complaint — what is the objection, and what is the new deadline?

If you are the victim who filed a complaint (goso, 고소) and the police decide not to refer, you are entitled to written notice within 7 days, stating the decision and its reasons — and, under a 2026 amendment, the police must now enclose the decision itself along with guidance and forms for filing an objection (Article 245-6).

The objection (uisincheong, 이의신청) goes to the head of the police agency handling the case, and once it is filed, the police must refer the case to the prosecutor (Article 245-7). One change deserves a red circle on your calendar: the same 2026 amendment introduced a deadline. The objection must now be filed within 3 months of receiving the notice (the statute allows a limited extension for justifiable reasons, within six months of the records transfer). Before this amendment there was no statutory time limit, so advice you find in older articles — "you can object any time" — is no longer safe to rely on. Note also that third-party informants (gobal, 고발, as opposed to victims who file goso) can now object only in limited categories of cases defined by decree.

What should foreigners watch for in particular?

A few things come up in my practice again and again.

First, language. The entire outcome turns on which word appears in a Korean document, and a machine translation of a legal notice is a starting point, not a basis for decisions. Have the document itself reviewed — not someone's summary of it.

Second, unfamiliar agency names. Several foreign clients have recently asked me whether a document from a "District Public Prosecution Office" was a scam, since they had never seen the name before. The name is genuine — it is the product of this autumn's reorganization. At the same time, fraudsters do impersonate investigative agencies, so if anything feels off, verify through a phone number you look up independently, never the one printed in a suspicious message, and do not transfer money or share credentials on the strength of a call.

Third, your visa. How a criminal case ends can matter for your stay in Korea — for extensions, for status, and in serious cases beyond that: a custodial sentence can constitute a ground for deportation under the Immigration Act, Article 46. I have written separately about how criminal outcomes interact with visas and ARC renewal; that piece pairs with this one(https://www.lawyerseoul.com/blog/will-a-criminal-case-affect-my-korean-visa-or-arc-renewal).

Whichever side of the case you are on, the useful work happens early: photograph the notice, write down the case number and the department, calendar the objection deadline if you are the complainant, and get advice before you respond — not after the next stage has already begun.

One honest caveat. This article describes the general framework. The details can change with the type of offense, whether a settlement (hapui, 합의) has been reached, your visa status, and the transitional arrangements of the new prosecution system, among other variables. If this is your situation, treat this guide as a map, and have someone look at your actual documents.

If you need advice in English on a criminal matter in Korea, you can reach me through lawyerseoul.com.

Jaewon Lee, Attorney at Law (Joye Law)

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#Korean lawyer English
#police investigation Korea
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