Sex Crimes Involving Minors in Korea: Age Thresholds That Change the Charge

In Korea, whether sexual conduct with a younger person is a crime at all depends first on that person's exact age. The law treats everyone under 19 as a child or juvenile, and then divides that group again at 13 and at 16. The identical act can be entirely lawful, a summary matter, or a felony carrying life imprisonment, depending on which band the other person falls into.

This guide sets out the three bands, the point at which consent stops mattering, when money changes the offence, and why some of these cases can still be prosecuted many years later.

Quick answer

• Under 13 — always an offence, whatever the younger person said or did. The conduct is punished as rape under article 305(1) of the Criminal Act, and is aggravated under article 7 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes where violence, threats, deception or abuse of authority is involved.
• 13 to under 16 — an offence if the older person was 19 or over at the time, even where the younger person consented (Criminal Act art. 305(2)).
• 16 to under 19 — not an offence under the Criminal Act or the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles against Sexual Abuse merely because the two had a sexual relationship, so long as there was no violence or threat, no deception or abuse of position, and no payment. Other statutes can still apply.

The three age bands in one table

Below 16, consent is not a defence

Foreign clients often assume that an agreement between the two people settles the question. In Korea it does not. Sexual intercourse or indecent conduct with a person under 13 is punished under article 305(1) of the Criminal Act regardless of agreement, and the provision is applied as if the conduct were rape. Where violence, threats, deception, or the use of a position of influence was involved, article 7 of the Sexual Crimes Special Cases Act raises the range to life imprisonment or ten years or more.

For a person aged 13 to under 16, article 305(2) applies the same treatment where the older party was 19 or over. The provision is written in terms of age at the time of the conduct, not the age either party claimed.

Between 16 and 19 the position is different. Absent violence, threats, deception, abuse of position, or payment, a sexual relationship is not an offence under the Criminal Act or the juvenile protection act. It is not accurate to say that any contact with a person under 19 is a crime, and equally inaccurate to say that consent always resolves the matter.

Payment changes the offence at every age

Where an adult pays, promises, or provides money, gifts or other benefit to a person under 19 in exchange for a sexual act, the offence of purchasing the sex of a child or juvenile applies: one to ten years' imprisonment, or a fine of 20 to 50 million won (art. 13(1)). If the younger person was under 16, the penalty is increased by up to one half (art. 13(3)), and the intercourse provision is charged at the same time.

Because the two offences are charged together, the sentencing exposure in a paid case is materially higher than in a non-paid case involving the same ages.

You do not have to meet in person

Article 15-2 covers sexual conversations and inducement. An adult aged 19 or over who repeatedly engages a child or juvenile in sexual conversation, or induces them to perform a sexual act, faces up to three years' imprisonment or a fine of up to 30 million won. For a person aged 16 or over the provision requires a purpose of sexual exploitation; for a person under 16, no such purpose is required.

A 2025 amendment, effective 22 October 2025, removed the previous limitation of this provision to online conduct and made attempts punishable. Conduct that took place through messaging apps, games, or social media therefore falls squarely within it.

Images carry the heaviest exposure

Sexual images and video are treated severely at every age band. Production of sexual exploitation material carries life imprisonment or a minimum of five years, and purchasing, possessing or viewing such material carries a minimum of one year (art. 11). There is no lower age threshold and no exception for material the younger person created voluntarily.

The Supreme Court has held that having a child or juvenile film themselves still amounts to production (Supreme Court, 13 September 2018, 2018Do9340). Deleting material after learning of an investigation is treated as destruction of evidence and aggravates the case.

Time does not close these files

Limitation periods for sexual offences against children and juveniles run from the day the victim reaches adulthood (art. 20(1)). For rape and indecent assault against a person under 13, no limitation period applies at all (art. 20(3)), and the same is true of producing sexual exploitation material (art. 20(4)2). Conduct from several years ago can therefore still be charged.

What follows a conviction

Beyond the sentence, a conviction ordinarily brings registration of personal information, an order to complete a sexual violence treatment programme, and a restriction on employment at institutions dealing with children and juveniles. For foreign nationals these orders interact with visa status, and immigration review can begin before the criminal case ends. Our guide to visa consequences of criminal charges explains that separate track.

What if the age was not known

An act committed without awareness of the facts that make it criminal is not punishable (Criminal Act art. 13), so what the accused knew about the other person's age is a central issue in most of these cases. It is never decided by one assertion alone. Courts look at the messages exchanged, how and where the two met, the setting, and the other person's appearance and circumstances. Saying that you were told the person was an adult does not settle the question.

Practical points for foreign nationals

These investigations usually begin with a summons or a request to attend a police station, and the first statement frequently shapes everything that follows. Interpretation at police interviews is not always reliable, and statements recorded in Korean are difficult to correct later. Do not contact the complainant or the complainant's family, and do not delete messages. Because the applicable offence turns on the age band, whether payment was involved, and how images or conversations arose, the file needs to be reviewed before any interview takes place.

If you have received a summons in a case of this kind, contact Taeshin Law Firm for a confidential consultation in English.