On your side,
through every stage of a criminal case

Once the prosecution requests a detention warrant, the court holds a hearing to decide whether to issue it, usually within one or two days of the request. Before that hearing your attorney gathers what shows there is no risk of flight or of evidence being destroyed: your address and residence status, your employment, your family in Korea, and your willingness to appear voluntarily. The earlier an attorney is instructed, the more of that can be put before the court in time.

You are allowed to, but it is rarely wise. What you say at the suspect interview is carried into the prosecutor’s review and into the trial, and a statement is difficult to correct afterwards. An attorney prepares you beforehand, sits with you during questioning so that the interview stays within what the law allows, and checks the written record before you sign it. If your Korean is limited you are entitled to an interpreter, and your attorney makes sure one is present.

The best moment is before the investigating authority summons you or executes a search. The next best is before your first police interview. The direction of a case is often set by that first statement, so instructing an attorney only after the file reaches the prosecutor, or after charges are brought, means working against a record that has already taken shape.

A non-prosecution decision is made by the prosecutor, who closes the case without bringing it to court, so no trial takes place. An acquittal is a court’s finding, after a trial, that the charge has not been proven. Both mean no criminal punishment, but they arise at different stages of the process and their effects are not identical.

Fees depend on the type of matter, whether that is defense during the investigation, at trial or on appeal, on how complex the case is, and on how long the representation runs. They are usually divided into an initial fee and a success fee. The scope of the representation and the fees are set out in writing and explained before the engagement is signed, and you can ask about the likely cost at the consultation. Consultations are paid.

Before that interview an attorney reviews and copies the investigation file to see what has been gathered, plans and rehearses your statement, organises the documents and witnesses in your favour, attends the interview with you and files a written opinion, and, once the likelihood of charges can be judged, begins preparing for trial.

Four things matter: ask to see the warrant and check what it covers, exercise your right to be present while it is carried out, object on the record to anything taken outside its scope, and make sure you are handed the list of what was seized. If a phone or a computer is taken, the right to be present continues into the digital forensic examination, which is why an attorney should be contacted at once.

Yes. A notice of appeal has to be filed within seven days of the judgment being served, and you may replace or add an attorney at that point. An appeal reviews both the facts and the law, but a large part of it turns on legal argument, so it is worth having the grounds of appeal drafted by an attorney with appellate experience.