Woman convicted for 'hacking' into boyfriend’s phone

A South Korean court recently found a 30-year-old woman guilty of invading her boyfriend’s privacy, after the accused had browsed his phone without his consent to look for video and contact information of his previous girlfriend.

While finding the accused guilty for looking through the phone of the victim -- her boyfriend at the time -- in December of 2020, the Seoul Central District Court, gave her a suspended sentence of a 300,000 won ($230) fine.

The Article 316 of the Criminal Act says violation of secrecy by opening a sealed letter, document or electromagnetic record through any technical means can be punished by up to three years in prison.

The court said it decided on the lightest form of punishment as the accused has no previous criminal record.

She had denied wrongdoing, claiming that the victim willingly told her the password to his phone to repair the relationship that had broken down because of his “complicated relationships with other women.”

The Seoul Central District Court, however, said there was no evidence to back her claims. Even if that was the case, it would grant her access to check the call records and messages, but would not have been permission for her to freely view the ex-girlfriend’s video and contact information without his consent.

The accused has appealed the decision.

She was initially summarily indicted by the prosecution, but requested a formal trial in court to fight the conviction.

Violation of privacy can be punished by law, even if it occurred between those in romantic relationships. In 2020, local court sentenced a 43-year-old man to a suspended prison term after he secretly recorded his girlfriend’s phone calls.

The violation of aforementioned Article 316 is what is defined by the Korean law as an offense punishable by objection, which means it can be punished only if the victim wants the offender to be punished.