When may the Act on the Protection of Crime Victims be applied to a foreign victim or their bereaved family member?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
For this practice exercise, we read the official confirmation or treaty material showing whether that state offers a reciprocal guarantee, the family relationship or marriage record showing the person's link to a Korean national, and the residence status certificate showing the category of stay held, which the provision ties to the person described in the second item.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading treats the provision as a closed gate: where the victim or the bereaved family member is a foreigner, the Act applies only where either that state's reciprocal guarantee exists, or the person, at the time the crime occurred, was a Korean national's spouse or was raising a child born of a marriage, including a de facto marriage, with a Korean national, and held permanent residence or a long-term residence status set by Ministry of Justice order, the residence status being required alongside the family link, not in place of it.
Another reading stresses what the provision leaves open: it does not say how the bereaved family member must show which family member died, does not name the long-term residence statuses the Ministry of Justice order designates, and leaves the content of the reciprocal guarantee to be shown from outside the provision, so a file showing a marriage and a qualifying residence status may still leave the long-term designation or the reciprocity open.
Your judgment
If the residence status was held only after the crime occurred, how could the file show which reading of this provision applies?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We revisit this card if the provision is amended to add or remove a qualifying residence status, or if a decision settles when the residence status must be held or what a reciprocal guarantee requires.