"Groom Disappears After Promising Marriage for Abortion... Woman Faces Stalking Charges"

Facing Legal Action After Protesting Harm

"To Prevent Misidentification, the Full Context Must Be Considered"

#. A woman in her 30s, identified as Ms. A, residing in North Gyeongsang Province, demanded an apology from a middle-aged man at her local hair salon who had insulted her mother. The man had made disparaging remarks about her mother's private affairs and spread information that was either false or unrelated. Ms. A sent the man four text messages, demanding an apology and also took a screenshot of his messenger profile and sent it to him. She confronted him, saying, "Don't live your life like that when you hardly know the truth." However, what Ms. A received in return was not an apology, but a criminal complaint. She was charged with violating the Act on Punishment of Stalking Crimes and received a summary order to pay a fine of 1 million won.

#. Ms. B, a woman in her 30s living in Nowon District, Seoul, became pregnant while dating a man with the intention of marriage. However, the man pressured her to terminate the pregnancy, citing financial difficulties. Trusting his promise to marry her, Ms. B underwent the procedure, but the prospective groom disappeared afterward. Ms. B visited his home once, only to find that the door password had been changed. Overcome with frustration, she contacted him some 70 times over a span of five hours via messenger and telephone. Many of the messages were just short words or brief phrases like "hey" or "you." Five months later, he filed a criminal complaint against Ms. B for violating the Act on Punishment of Stalking Crimes.

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There has been a rising number of cases where individuals seeking an apology or explanation after a conflict or harm have ended up being accused of stalking. While not every attempt to engage for victim recovery can be justified, there is concern that original wrongdoers may deliberately exploit the law by filing 'stalking counter-claims' to gain an upper hand in the dispute. Experts are pointing out that investigative authorities need to take into account not only the number and content of communications, but also the overall context of each incident.

According to the National Police Agency, the number of violations of the Act on Punishment of Stalking Crimes rose from 10,545 cases in 2022, to 11,992 cases in 2023, and 13,283 cases in 2024, reaching 17,351 cases last year—a 65% increase over three years. This increase reflects not only an actual rise in crimes such as dating violence, but also the investigative authorities' adoption of a zero-tolerance policy towards stalking behaviors.

The Act on Punishment of Stalking Crimes defines stalking as repeated or continuous acts—including making contact—against another's will, without a valid reason, that cause anxiety or fear. Its intent is to quickly protect victims and prevent escalation into more serious crimes. However, when communication has a specific purpose—such as seeking an apology or reparation after harm—determining whether it constitutes stalking is challenging. Whether there was a valid reason for the contact, and whether its method and intensity exceeded acceptable limits, must be assessed by investigative authorities based on the specific circumstances of each case.

In particular, it is problematic that 'valid reason' and 'anxiety or fear'—the core criteria distinguishing stalking—can be difficult to judge uniformly. In the process of seeking an apology or compensation for prior harm, the boundary between exercising one’s rights and stalking may become blurred. Attorney Song Ji-eun of Lawfirm Leechae stressed, "It is essential to establish clear standards to distinguish between legitimate exercises of rights for recovery and repetitive harassment."

Professor Han Minkyoung of the Department of Public Administration at Korea National Police University commented, "To reduce misidentification where victim and perpetrator roles are reversed, investigators must consider the origin of the conflict, whether the communications were intended to control the other party's behavior or relationship, and whether the other party showed avoidance due to fear." She added, "Rather than revising the law, it is more practical to supplement it by developing case-based field guidelines to ensure consistency in decisions for similar incidents."

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