Support available when you are a victim of crime

• Get treatment first. Do not throw away medical certificates, medical bills or hospital admission confirmations; keep them together.
• Ask the investigator in charge for information about victim support. The state must inform victims about relief payments and support organisations during investigations and trials (Crime Victim Protection Act (범죄피해자 보호법) Article 8-2).
• If you are struggling emotionally, contact a Smile Center (스마일센터), a state-run centre providing psychological care for victims of violent crime, or a Crime Victim Support Center (범죄피해자지원센터) and ask for counselling.
• If you have received money from the offender or insurance payouts, note the amounts and dates. These are deducted when relief is decided.
• If you feel unsafe because your home address has been exposed, ask the police in charge whether you can get personal protection.

It covers people who died or suffered a disability or serious injury from a crime against life or body and were not compensated for all or part of the harm, and people harmed because they gave statements or submitted materials in an investigation or trial (Crime Victim Protection Act Article 16). Harm caused by negligence is excluded, so ordinary traffic accidents are not covered (Article 3(1)(iv)).

A serious injury means one of the following that takes 2 months or more to treat: damage to major organs, amputation or serious deformation of part of the body, a similar injury requiring hospital admission of 1 week or more, or a serious mental illness requiring admission of 3 days or more (Enforcement Decree of the same Act, Article 3). Relief is divided into relief for bereaved families, disability relief and serious injury relief (Article 17).

Apply to the Crime Victim Relief Committee (범죄피해구조심의회) of the District Public Prosecution Office with jurisdiction over your address, place of residence or the place where the crime occurred (Articles 24 and 25(1)). You cannot apply once 3 years have passed since you learned of the harm or 10 years since it occurred (Article 25(2)).

If the decision may be delayed because the degree of disability or serious injury is not yet clear, you can first apply for emergency relief (Article 28). If your application is rejected or only partly granted, you can apply for a review within 2 weeks of receiving the original decision (Article 27).

If at the time of the crime the offender was your spouse, a lineal blood relative, a relative within the fourth degree or a relative living with you, relief is in principle not paid (Article 19(1)). If the victim provoked the crime or made the harm worse, all or part of it may not be paid.

If you received damages from the offender, that amount is deducted (Article 21(1)), and if you can receive state compensation or benefits under other laws, relief is not paid to that extent (Article 20). The state takes over the claim for damages against the offender up to the amount of relief it paid (Article 21(2)).

The state and local governments must put in place measures such as counselling, medical care including help with medical costs, legal aid and housing support (Article 7). Medical costs and emergency living expenses are often applied for through a Crime Victim Support Center, and victims of violent crime and their families can receive psychological assessment and treatment at a Smile Center.

Legal advice is available from the Korea Legal Aid Corporation (대한법률구조공단, call 132 without an area code). Victims of sexual violence can appoint a lawyer, and if they do not have one, the prosecutor can appoint a state-appointed victim's lawyer (Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes (성폭력범죄의 처벌 등에 관한 특례법) Article 27). If the offender has been indicted, also look into applying for a compensation order (배상명령) in the criminal trial.

As the victim's lawyer, Jisan Law writes the criminal complaint, goes with you to the complainant interview and submits a victim's written opinion at trial. We also handle compensation order applications, civil claims and settlement negotiations with the offender's side, and at the consultation we decide with you which routes to use, including crime victim relief, and in what order.