SAY NO TO DRUGS; IT'S SAFER IN KOREA

Dear Sean Hayes: I am an English teacher from Canada who was
arrested for being in an apartment where marijuana was found. We
were all hauled down to the police department and tested for
marijuana. We all tested positive and I was deported by immigration
and my friends are still facing criminal charges. Please inform
others of the law so others won,t receive the same fate as us.

Unemployed in Vancouver.

Dear unemployed: A word to the wise to all recreational drug users
in Korea: either stop what you are doing or return to your home
country. The use of drugs in Korea is a serious offence and the law
enforcement authorities will eventually catch you.

If you are guilty of violating a narcotics law and are picked up by
law enforcement, it is highly unlikely that you won't be convicted.
The conviction rate for narcotics violations, including marijuana,
is over 99%. So heed my advice.

For those that refuse to heed my advice, the Control of Narcotics
Act may punish those that use drugs habitually or for profit making
by imprisonment for not less than 10 years in jail, for life or even
receive the death penalty.

Lesser punishment is proscribed by the Act for lesser crimes. The
minimum you will receive for the possession of drugs in your system
or on your personage is a severe fine and probable deportation. Yes,
you heard me correct, you can be punished for having consumed a
controlled substance and law enforcement personnel may test you for
the presence of a controlled substance. In fact, over 60% of those
arrested in 2005 were charged with use.

Testing for controlled substances: If you are not caught with a
controlled substance on your personage you may be able to legally
refuse to submit to a drug test, but in practice they will test you.
The test is generally a hair sample. The hair sample will be
able to be submitted into evidence, since the hair sample is "real
evidence," which is not excludable under Korean law. Accordingly, if
you violate the law and you are picked up by law enforcement they
usually have you red handed.

48-hour detention: Additionally, the prosecution may hold you for 48
hours without charging you. After 48 hours the prosecution must
bring you in front of a judge to officially charge you and/or extend
the detention time.

Questioning by law enforcement: Next, when the prosecution or the
police question you after you are charged, you may refuse to answer
questions beyond certain biographical information and ask for the
presence of an attorney (Korean Constitution Art. 12(4)). If you are
arrested for the use or possession of drugs it is essential that
contact an attorney.

American attorney Sean Hayes is a Professor of Law at Kookmin
University and a researcher for the Constitutional Court.