Recently, the Constitutional Court of Korea found the minor offense/crime “overexposure” (aka “too much exposure”) as unconstitutional. “Overexposure” is no longer illegal or a crime!

Under the Punishment of Minor Offenses Act (경범죄처벌법), “overexposure” is/was a minor offense/crime (akin to indecent exposure). It being a “minor” offense/crime meant that you could only be ticketed (KRW 50,000), but the incident would not end up on your criminal record. Now, it’s not even illegal or a crime.

Via a 7:2 vote, the Court found “overexposure” as unconstitutional because the law itself (wording) was too vague. Especially the underlined parts below. They’re highly subjective.

So, is it time to go streaking now? Not really. Because streaking (in Korea) is likely to constitute a different (more serious) crime of “Public Obscenity” (공연음란) under the Korean Criminal Act (형법). And this crime does end up on one’s criminal record!

Then what’s changed? Well, what’s okay now is for a man to take off his top in public (to exercise, sunbathe…).

Thanks for reading!