⚖ For a legal response to a foreign 🚭drug punishment, check <Actual Cases>✅
👋Hello from MAJUNG Law Firm Foreigner Center
📊 The frequency of foreign individuals engaged in various crimes is increasing along with the number of foreign residents in Korea. In particular, cases of Chinese, Filipino, and Vietnamese nationals being investigated by the police on suspicion of drug crimes are occurring every day. In Korea, using drugs is a serious felony that carries harsh penalties. If you get caught using drugs, you might face significant criminal penalties. Even if you are a foreign national, there are no exclusions. Rather, you will face harsher penalties—like an order to leave the country—because you are a foreign national. Therefore, we advise you to get assistance from a lawyer who specializes in representing foreigners right once if a foreign national is implicated in a narcotics offense and to proceed with caution.
🚸One-stop response from criminal punishment to immigration disposition
Foreigner-Specialized MAJUNG Center
✔️ Immigration Office criminal and experienced immigration litigation lawyer
✔️ Certified legal expert by the Korean Bar Association with qualifications in criminal, immigration, visa, and refugee law
✔️ Handled about 5,800 instances in the past
✔️ Concurrent interpretation services offered in English, Chinese, and Bengali
✔️ One-stop service for immigration and criminal penalties
➡️Foreigners who use drugs face the following penalties:
First and foremost, it's important to think through the penalties for foreign drug users.
➡️In Korea, drug use is considered an anti-social offense that disrupts social order and is met with harsh penalties. In line with the 'Narcotics Control Act' of the Republic of Korea, foreign nationals charged with drug offenses shall face the following penalties.
📝Act on Narcotic Drugs Management
1. Possession and use of drugs: a fine of up to 10 million won or imprisonment of more than 1 year
2. Import and export of drugs: A fine of up to 20 million won or imprisonment of up to 2 years.
3. Drug sales: A fine of up to 50 million won or imprisonment of 5 years.
🗞 The punishment varies based on the type of crime, such as simple possession and simple administration / importing and exporting drugs / selling drugs, as per the [Act on Narcotic Drugs Management]. It is significant to remember that the severity of the penalty, which can include fines and jail time, increases with the amount of evidence that a person has actively participated in a drug offense.
✔️Standards for forced deportation of foreigners
1. When sentenced to a fine of 3 million won or more
2. If the cumulative fine within 5 years is more than 5 million won
➡️You must respond simultaneously to criminal punishment and immigration disposition if you are involved in drug crimes as a foreigner, as you might be subject to a "forced departure" order based on the immigration office's criminal review. As a general criminal defense attorney is unlikely to be sufficient in managing immigration matters, we advise you to start by obtaining legal counsel from an attorney with experience in immigration and foreign criminal law.
❓How to respond to foreign drug punishment <Actual case of Majung>
If a foreigner is involved in a drug crime and is punished, the response method will also vary depending on the specific stage of the case. Ideally, the police investigation should begin with a lawyer, but if you missed the golden time and have already been transferred to a detention center, you will need to take steps first, such as applying for temporary release from the detention center.
*Below is the story of a client who requested legal assistance at MAJUNG on drug charges.
👁🗨Case Detail
The client had already completed a police investigation and was imprisoned in a shelter on suspicion of drug use. Since he had to stay in Korea longer for work reasons, he requested assistance in applying for temporary release from the detention center to secure time to settle things in Korea.
📍Majung's Solution methods
The client was prepared to go back home after thoroughly considering the use of drugs. Nevertheless, he expressed his need for time, saying, "I really need some time to wrap up my business in Korea." After learning about the client's past, Majung pursued the following steps to help him leave and make the most of his time in Korea.
1. Although the client took narcotics, it wasn't "habitual."
2. The client refrained from profit-seeking endeavors, such as drug sales.
3. The client has no prior criminal history and is a "first-time offender."
4. The company that is currently operating in Korea will likely suffer "enormous damage" if its client is forced to leave the nation.
➡️Majung argued that even though the client had done a socially reprehensible crime, he was honestly reflecting on it and that this was his first offense with no prior criminal history. Above all, the client's everyday life will be significantly impacted if he were deported without his will due to this occurrence.
🟰Case Outcome
Majung's strong defense allowed for the client's temporary two-month release from the detention center. The client felt that two months would be plenty for him to wrap up his company in Korea and be ready to go.
<Must read> to wisely respond to foreign drug offenses
🗝The initial response is the key
Initial intervention is crucial in situations of foreign drug use. This is so that your actions during the initial police investigation have an impact on the prosecution's investigation and the outcome of the court case. Regardless of the circumstances, you may run the risk of creating miscommunication and receiving an "aggravated punishment" if you react alone in a confused position at the beginning of the case. A legal representative's assistance is especially crucial if you are a foreigner who does not speak Korean well and is not familiar with Korean legislation. Furthermore, severe criminal charges like drug offenses will inevitably result in harsh punishments. The police officer's pressure investigation may likely take an unexpected turn, so you should proceed cautiously right away and get the assistance of an experienced attorney.
✅You have to deal with not only criminal punishment but also immigration
A lot of clients at the Foreigner MAJUNG Center go to a regular criminal law firm first, but when things don't work out in the end, they turn to the "Foreigner Specialist Law Firm MAJUNG." The client switched attorneys in the middle of the case after a general criminal attorney carelessly said that they could not respond to a "forced departure."
✅The "first choice" is crucial.
We request that, instead of working with a normal legal representative, you work with a "foreign legal representative" right away.
❓Why you must work with MAJUNG
Criminal punishment and deportation matters are handled concurrently at the Foreigner Specialized Center for Foreigners by professional lawyers, immigration office criminal experts, and criminal defense attorneys accredited by the Korean Bar Association. We shall do everything in our capacity to reduce criminal penalties and safeguard against deportation.
✔️Furthermore, upon visit, direct consultation is feasible due to our specialists' ability to give simultaneous interpretation in numerous languages, including English, Chinese, and Bengali. We also have the latest consultation system available, which enables non-face-to-face contract signing and video consultation from abroad. Majung is one of the few "true law firms specializing in foreigners" in Korea that provides abroad video consultations and multilingual simultaneous interpretation consultations.
👁🗨Solve foreign criminal cases with Majung! We will reward you with the best results.
MAJUNG will provide you with the best legal solution based on our know-how in handling approximately 5,800 criminal cases involving foreigners, including drug cases, voice phishing, and assault. A criminal lawyer certified by the Korean Bar Association and an expert with experience working at the Immigration Office will 'simultaneously respond' to criminal punishment and forced departure.
🤝 Visit MAJUNG and tell us simply your issue. We extend a warm welcome to you from our team of knowledgeable international attorneys.
----------------------------------------------------------------
MAJUNG Law Firm is a professional law firm located in South Korea, providing legal services to foreign residents in various types of legal cases — ranging from immigration issues, criminal defense, labor disputes, international divorce, damage compensation, and many more.
📣 English, Chinese, Thai, and Bengali interpreters are ready to assist you throughout every process.
< Contact us >
📞 Call us at 070-5067-2322 / Whatsapp: 010-2663-1158
📲 Kakaotalk : http://pf.kakao.com/_xfxlWxib/chat
📩 Email. foreigner@majunglaw.kr
The consultation is available at the MAJUNG Foreigner Center's headquarters in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, as well as at the branch offices in Daegu, Daejeon, Busan, and Gwangju.
