Reviewing and correcting the interrogation record, and refusing to sign

After hours of questioning, you may want to skim the record and sign. Even so, say that you will read the whole record yourself from start to finish. If it is shown on a screen, scroll through it slowly.

• Check that your answer to the question about whether you will use the right to remain silent and the right to a lawyer was written correctly (Criminal Procedure Act (형사소송법) Article 244-3(2)).
• Check that the time you arrived at the police station, and the start and end times of questioning, match what actually happened (Article 244-4).
• Compare numbers such as dates, amounts and frequency, and people's names, one by one.
• Check that expressions of awareness or admission, such as "I was aware" or "I admit," are exactly what you said.
• Check that places where you said you do not remember have not been turned into "I did not do it" or "I did it."

The investigator must let the suspect read the record or read it aloud, and must ask whether anything differs from what was said or from the facts. If the suspect asks for something to be added, removed or changed, or gives an opinion, the investigator must add that to the record, and the original part objected to must be left legible (Criminal Procedure Act Article 244(2)).

Visible corrections do not count against you. It is better to have a record of what was corrected and why. If a summarised sentence differs from what you said, dictate the sentence: "What I actually said was this."

As a rule, questioning should end before 9 p.m., but reading a record that has already been prepared can continue until midnight (Investigation Rules (수사준칙) Article 21(1)). Time spent reading the record at your written request is an exception to the 12-hour limit on total questioning time (Article 22(1)(i)).

If a lawyer took part, the lawyer can also read the record after questioning and give an opinion, and any separate written opinion is filed in the case record (Investigation Rules Article 14(1)).

If there are no objections or comments, the suspect writes that in their own hand, stamps across the page joins and signs (Criminal Procedure Act Article 244(3)). If the part you asked to be corrected is not reflected, you can hold off signing and say why. In that case, ask for the reason you did not sign to be noted in the record or an investigation report.

Refusing to sign is a last resort, though. In most cases, it is settled by asking for your objection to be written at the end of the record, checking that it has been included, and then signing. If you have a lawyer, discuss it before signing.

You can apply to inspect and copy the parts containing your own statement (Investigation Rules Article 69(1)). The head of the police office must decide whether to disclose them within 10 days of the application, and an application for your own record made on the day of questioning must be reviewed without delay (Police Investigation Rules (경찰수사규칙) Article 87). Get a copy, mark the parts that are wrong, and correct them through further statements, a written statement or a written opinion. If what you want to say is complicated or you would rather set it out in writing, you can also submit a written statement (진술서) (Police Investigation Rules Article 39(3)). If the case has already been referred, submit a written opinion to the prosecutor at the Public Prosecution Service (공소청) handling the case.

If we sit in on your questioning, we read the record with you sentence by sentence and ask on the spot for corrections and for your comments to be added where something was written differently. If you were questioned alone, we start by applying to inspect and copy the record to see how it was written, and add what is needed in a defense counsel's written opinion. If something in the record is bothering you, contact us through the chat on this page.