You may need a consultation if
- You put a recorder in your spouse's car and recorded their conversations with the affair partner
- You attached a GPS tracker to your spouse's car
- You unlocked your spouse's phone and took photos of KakaoTalk chats
- You hired a private investigator to follow someone, and that agency is now under investigation
- Your spouse has filed a criminal complaint against you under the Protection of Communications Secrets Act
Relevant provisions
Protection of Communications Secrets Act (통신비밀보호법) Article 16(1) (Penalties)
Recording or listening in on a private conversation between other people is punishable by 1 to 10 years' imprisonment and suspension of qualifications for up to 5 years. There is no fine option, and content obtained this way cannot be used as evidence in court (Articles 4 and 14(2)).
Location Information Act (위치정보법) Article 40, item 4 (Penalties)
Collecting, using or providing personal location information without the consent of the person concerned is punishable by up to 3 years' imprisonment or a fine of up to KRW 30 million.
Information and Communications Network Act (정보통신망법) Article 71(1), item 14 (Penalties)
Infringing or leaking another person's secrets processed or stored through an information and communications network is punishable by up to 5 years' imprisonment or a fine of up to KRW 50 million (violation of Article 49).
Statutes are summarized. The official Korean text is available at the Korea Law Information Center (law.go.kr).
The test is whether you were part of the conversation
Secretly recording a conversation you take part in does not violate the Protection of Communications Secrets Act (통신비밀보호법). The same applies when one of three people in a conversation records it (Supreme Court Decision 2006도4981, rendered October 12, 2006).
The problem is a conversation you were not part of. Placing a recorder in a car or home to record your spouse talking with the affair partner is recording a conversation between other people, and it is treated seriously: only imprisonment is prescribed, with no fine option.
What the 2026 Supreme Court ruling made clear
The Supreme Court held that recording files and transcripts obtained by secretly installing a recorder in a spouse's car are inadmissible as evidence in a lawsuit for affair compensation under the Protection of Communications Secrets Act (Supreme Court Decision 2024다222212, rendered April 30, 2026). In effect, a recording obtained at the risk of punishment cannot be used at trial.
The same ruling said that material with no specific rule barring its use as evidence, such as photos of messages on a mobile phone, is judged individually by weighing how it was collected, the degree of privacy intrusion and the need for the evidence. However, the plaintiff in that case had also been finally convicted under the Information and Communications Network Act (정보통신망법) for photographing the phone.
Location tracking, private investigators and trespass
Attaching a location tracker to your spouse's car without consent, or secretly installing a location-sharing app on their phone, violates the Location Information Act (위치정보법). If a private investigation agency used unlawful methods and the client requested them or hired the agency knowing about them, the client can also be investigated as an accomplice.
Entering the affair partner's home or a lodging room to check the scene can raise the issue of trespass (주거침입).
If a complaint has already been filed against you
We sort out, act by act, when each device was installed, the actual extent of recording or listening, and whether you were part of the conversation. Even within the same case, some acts may not be crimes.
The affair lawsuit is restructured around whether it can be won without that evidence. We look for substitute evidence through court procedures, such as evidence preservation (증거보전) of lodging CCTV and fact inquiries (사실조회) to mobile carriers and card companies.
Circumstances affecting the disposition and outcome
Factors that work against you
- · Recorded or listened in real time to conversations you were not part of
- · Left the device installed for a long time
- · Spread what you obtained to others
- · Directly asked a private investigator to track location or record
Factors that work in your favor
- · Most of the recordings were made as a party to the conversation
- · No recording actually took place, or its scope was narrow
- · Did not disclose the content to anyone
- · Removed the device right away
How Jisan Law's Family Law Center responds
- 1
Separating each act
We separate recording, location tracking, accessing the phone and entering premises, and look at which law is at issue for each.
- 2
Managing the material
We leave the originals as they are and make sure the material does not spread beyond what the investigation needs.
- 3
Practice and attending questioning
We practice with likely questions before questioning, and a defense lawyer sits in to explain how the material was collected.
- 4
Written opinion
We submit a defense lawyer's written opinion on the parts that are not crimes and on favorable mitigating circumstances.
- 5
Rebuilding the affair lawsuit
We secure lawful evidence to replace the problematic evidence through evidence preservation and fact inquiries.
Lawyers handling these cases
Hansol Kim Managing Partner
Former prosecutor at the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, the Ansan Branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office and the Hongseong Branch of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office
View profile →
Miso Kim Partner
Formerly at Daehwan Law Firm, in-house counsel on the legal team of Wemade Co., Ltd., and Oracle Law Firm
View profile →
Frequently asked questions
Are photos taken by a private investigator a problem too?
Even if the photos were taken in public places, if unlawful methods such as a location tracker were used while following the person, both the agency and the client can be in trouble. Decide whether to submit them as evidence after confirming how they were collected. It's a good idea to keep the contract and messages that show what methods the agency used.
I already knew my spouse's phone password.
Knowing the password does not by itself mean you were allowed to look. The judgment can depend on whether you normally shared the phone and whether your spouse allowed you to look at it. In the Supreme Court case above, photographing messages on the phone was punished as a violation of the Information and Communications Network Act.
Can I avoid punishment if I delete the recording?
Deleting the file does not undo the recording you already made. Destroying material during an investigation can actually look worse, so don't delete anything on your own. You must immediately stop sending it to others or making it public. Disclosing or leaking the content of a recording is also punished separately.