Abduction and unlawful confinement

"You can't leave until the work is done" is confinement. It is not something to endure.

What counts as confinement

• Locking doors or standing guard so you cannot leave
• Taking your passport, residence card or phone to prevent you moving
• "Stay here until the debt is paid"
• Banning you from leaving a dormitory or worksite
• Using violence or threats to stop you getting away

Restricting freedom of movement without consent is a crime.

What you can do now

1. Call 112 if you can. If speaking is difficult, you can text 112.
2. If you cannot speak, stay quietly connected on the call, or send your location by text. See what-to-say-emergency.
3. Share your location with someone you know if possible. See my-location.
4. If escape is possible, head for somewhere busy — a convenience store, subway station, petrol station — and ask for help.
5. Resisting can be dangerous. Safety comes first.
6. Once free, report to 112 immediately and get medical care.

Helping from outside

• If someone goes silent and there are warning signs, report suspected confinement or a missing person to 112. See missing-person.
• Don't go and confront them yourself. It is dangerous.
• Give police the last contact, location and details of who they were with.

Where to go

• 112 police (text reporting available)
• 119 injuries and emergencies
• 1366 Women's Emergency Hotline (24 hours)
• 1345 interpretation support
• 1350 forced labour and wages

Questions people ask

My employer holds my passport so I can't leave. Confiscating a passport is unlawful. Report to 112, 1345 and 1350. See passport-taken and forced-labor-emergency.

I'm being held over a debt. Even with a debt, confinement is a crime. Debt itself can be resolved separately through 132 and 1397.

Reporting in Korean is hard. Call 112 and say "English", or request interpretation via 1345. See emergency-interpretation-1345.

Will reporting cause residence problems? You can report being a victim of confinement or forced labour. If you want advice first, use 1345 or a migrant organisation. See ngo-support.

Take care

Think about safety before attempting escape alone. If there are several of them or a weapon, don't take risks — focus on reporting and sharing your location. Once free, photograph and record injuries and circumstances — they are needed for the investigation and for support.

Related

blackmail · passport-taken · forced-labor-emergency · missing-person · crime-victim-support

Source

Korean National Police Agency www.police.go.kr / As of 2026-08