Can I Record That?

Can I record that? Secret recordings in Korea, New York and England

Korean Law for Teens #1 · Korea · New York · England & Wales · October 2026

At a glance

You are in the conversationRecording is generally legal in Korea, New York and England.

You are not in itSecretly recording others can be a crime, and can backfire on you.

Warm-up

Myth or Fact? 🤔

Guess first, then read. Seven quick statements.

Imagine this. A classmate has been mocking you for weeks, always when no teachers are around. You finally decide to collect proof. You open the voice recorder on your phone and slip it into your pocket.

Is that legal? And if it is, will it count as evidence? In Korea, the answer depends on one question: are you part of the conversation?

The rule

Protection of Communications Secrets Act (통신비밀보호법), Arts. 3, 14, 16

The Act says no one may record a private conversation between other people (타인 간의 대화). Breaking this rule is a serious crime, with a penalty of one to ten years in prison.

The key words are other people. Korean courts have consistently held that if you take part in the conversation, it is not a conversation between others. The Supreme Court has ruled that when one of three people in a conversation records it, the recording does not break the Act.

Why it matters for evidence

An illegal recording is not only risky for you. It also cannot be used as evidence: the same law bars it from trials and from disciplinary procedures. So an illegal recording can backfire twice. It does not help your case, and the person who hurt you could report you for a crime.

Korea · New York · England & Wales

Many of us will study in the United States or the United Kingdom next. Here is how the same question is answered in New York and in England and Wales. In New York, state law and federal law both apply, so that column covers both.

	Korea	New York (state + federal)	England & Wales
Can a participant record?	Yes	Yes (one-party consent)	Generally yes, for personal use
Recording a conversation you are not in	Crime, 1 to 10 years	Crime (state felony; federal crime too)	Not always a crime in itself, but it can break other laws and privacy rights
An illegally made recording in court	Out, by a fixed rule	Out, by a fixed rule (federal law)	No fixed rule: the judge weighs fairness

On the first two questions, Seoul, New York and London give much the same answer. All three protect a conversation from outsiders: if you are in the room, the words were said to you. The real difference is the third row.

Before you record, ask two questions: am I in the conversation, and which law applies where I am?

Try it

Can I record this?

Pick a place, then decide each case. Switch places and try the same cases again: the same act can get a different answer.

Simplified for learning. Real cases turn on their facts.

If you record a talk you are in

Don't edit the fileTrimming makes people ask whether it is real. Keep the original untouched.

Back it up todaySend a copy to an account the other person cannot reach.

Write down the contextDate, time, place, who was there, and what happened just before.

Keep the phoneThe original device or file may need to be checked.

Don't post itSharing a recording online can create a new legal problem. In Korea, spreading even true facts that harm someone's reputation can be defamation.

Safety firstIf you are in danger, do not stop to record. Get safe and call 112 (Korea) or 911 (U.S.).

Why this matters: in Korea, New York and England alike, a recording has to be shown to be genuine before it counts. An untouched original, a same-day backup and a note written at the time make that much easier.

Caveats

Being legal under criminal law does not mean zero risk. In some civil cases, Korean courts have weighed a person's privacy and “right to one's voice.” Recording to protect yourself is very different from recording to embarrass someone. Laws also change: Korean lawmakers have proposed requiring consent even from participants.

Card news

The same episode in seven cards, made for Instagram. Scroll sideways to read them all.