Hyung Hur of Democratic Party Proposes Amendment to Resident Registration Act to Block Stalking and Sex Crime Victims' Address Tracking

Complete Block on Tactics Using Deliberate Transfers and Lawsuits to Obtain Addresses

Stronger Resident Registration Access Restrictions: From Discretionary to Mandatory Measures

A bill has been introduced to block perpetrators of crimes from deliberately transferring money and then using lawsuits as a pretext to obtain victims' addresses.

On June 11, Hyung Hur, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced that he had sponsored a partial amendment to the Resident Registration Act to prevent perpetrators of stalking, sexual violence, domestic violence, and sexual offenses against children and adolescents from exploiting creditor relationships to identify victims' addresses.

Hyung Hur, member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News

Under the current law, anyone with a legitimate interest can apply to view or receive copies of the resident registration records, even if they are not the individual or a member of the household. However, there have been cases where some perpetrators have abused this provision by intentionally transferring money to the victim, fabricating a creditor relationship, and then filing a lawsuit to obtain the victim’s address.

The current system for restricting access to resident registration records is designed primarily to protect victims of domestic violence, which has led to criticism that it falls short in safeguarding victims of stalking, sexual violence, or sexual offenses against children and adolescents, who are also at high risk of retaliation.

There has also been criticism that the existing restrictions are discretionary rather than mandatory, making it difficult to apply these protection measures consistently, even when victims request them.

The proposed amendment expands the range of people eligible to apply for access restrictions to include not only victims of domestic violence but also victims of stalking and sexual violence, their household members and direct relatives, as well as child and adolescent victims of sexual crimes and their guardians. Furthermore, it strengthens the regulation to make it mandatory for authorities to impose these restrictions whenever a victim applies.

Hyung Hur stated, “The act of perpetrators deliberately transferring money and then attempting to obtain the victim’s address through lawsuits constitutes a clear case of secondary victimization, threatening the safety and daily lives of victims. We will close these legal loopholes to prevent perpetrators from tracking down victims, so that crime victims can feel safe and return to their daily lives.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.