Is flag burning illegal in South Korea?
Criminal offense
South Korean law punishes flag desecration with imprisonment up to two years.
South Korea is one of 53 countries classified “Criminal offense” for flag desecration — 79% of the 67 with data. (Also searched as flag burning.)
Source
- Taken from
- Wikipedia: Flag desecration
- Last checked
- 7 July 2026
- How it was classified
- Classified by a language model from the source text, then checked against hand-verified reference countries.
Nearby countries
- Japan
- Only foreign flags protected Only desecration of foreign flags is illegal in Japan, while the Japanese flag itself is constitutionally protected.
- Taiwan
- Criminal offense Taiwan criminalizes insulting national flags or emblems with penalties up to one year imprisonment.
- China
- Criminal offense Flag desecration is illegal in China with imprisonment terms of up to 3 years.
- Hong Kong
- Criminal offense Flag desecration is illegal in Hong Kong, with convictions and prison sentences for such acts.
- Philippines
- Criminal offense It is illegal to mutilate, deface, or insult the flag with penalties including fines and imprisonment.
- Thailand
- Criminal offense Thailand fines or jails those who insult national flags, though foreign flags are not specifically mentioned.
Other laws in South Korea
- Holocaust Denial
- No specific law
- Conversion Therapy
- No ban
Every law in South Korea → · Where is burning the flag illegal? →
A visual reference compiled from Wikipedia’s law-by-country articles, not legal advice. Laws change and summaries simplify — check a primary source before relying on anything here.