u/OkPhilosopher7983

I’m a foreign tenant in Korea and am looking for advice on how to protect myself during the remaining month of my tenancy.

I gave my landlord 3 months’ notice by text that I would be moving out. My understanding is that under the Housing Lease Protection Act, a tenant can terminate an implicitly renewed lease with 3 months’ notice. The realtor has also confirmed this. I am therefore counting my contract end date as three months from the date I gave notice. 

The landlord acknowledged my intent (on a call) when I initially gave notice. However, it has now been about two months and he has not found a replacement tenant and so is starting to get antsy. A few people have viewed the apartment, but he has raised the rent making it more expensive than comparable places nearby. Yesterday, he became particularly aggressive. He showed up at my apartment unannounced and waited outside, and later called me and repeatedly insisted that I cannot move out on the three-month date/would not receive my deposit back (KRW20m) and must stay indefinitely until he finds a replacement tenant. The call involved aggressive language and profanity directed at me. I know he has no legal basis.

He also accused me of refusing to cooperate with real-estate agents and claimed that agents told him I was not answering their calls. I have not received any calls or other contact from agents other than the original realtor. At the moment, Naver 부동산 listings appear to show the property listed through only one agent. I have been cooperative in making myself available for viewings.

There have also been ongoing issues regarding access to my apartment. He has repeatedly pressured me to give him and realtors my passcode. I refused, but he told me that he would not use it to enter because he already has a master key and could enter my apartment if he wanted to anyway. Last month, he also texted me saying that he was going to enter my apartment with the realtor and a prospective tenant without my permission. He ultimately did not do so (probably was dissuaded by the realtor), but the message was extremely concerning.

The landlord lives above me and I have also witnessed/heard about aggressive behaviour towards other tenants, including an incident where he attempted to enter a neighbour’s apartment. Given everything that has happened, I am now genuinely concerned about my safety and am temporarily staying with a friend because I no longer feel comfortable staying alone in the apartment.

I understand that there are legal procedures I can take if he does not return my deposit when the tenancy ends. I also completed the standard 전입신고, 확정일자 etc process. My question is what I can do now while there is still about one month left until the contract end-date.

A few specific questions:

• Should I make any effort to help find a replacement tenant myself, for example by posting on 당근?
• I visited the original realtor last week, who advised me to continue looking for a new place and to send the landlord another text confirming that I intend to move out on the three-month date. Given his behavior yesterday, I am concerned about how he will react if I send this message. Should I still do so? While the original text I sent about terminating the lease captured the date I sent the message, technically I did not explicitly state the exact end date (though I believe this has no bearing on my right to move out)
• Is there anything else I should be documenting or doing now, before the move-out date?

He’s a typical boomer taking advantage of a young woman living alone. I would strongly prefer to communicate exclusively via text so that there is a written record and to not be on the listening end of his abusive blowouts. But given his increasingly aggressive behavior, I am worried that explicitly telling him this could further escalate the situation.

I’m planning to visit the Seoul Global Centre on Tuesday for advice, but I’d really appreciate any thoughts. Thanks all.