Can a 4 year old marijuana possession charge be expunged?

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I know that this is the work/job area and the reason I posted this question here is because I plan to possibly teach English in South Korea in the future and they do a 10 year background check on all people wanting to teach there and I am worried that if I don't have this stupid charge expunged, it will show up on my record and I won't be allowed to teach in South Korea at all. I know that they are really strict about this stuff. I tried posting this question in forums about teaching in South Korea, but was only met with people flaming me and just being unhelpful and rude. I am sure there are some people on here that might know about this. It is not like I'm against smoking pot. I used to do it all the time, but now I wish I never did because now I might not be able to work in the country I want to because of it. Are there any people on here who know about this and can help me out?

P.S. Teaching in Japan is my first option...but the English teaching market is drying up and too competitive, so I have turned my attention to South Korea.

Well I wish I had some advice but I don't...it angers me that laws are in place to f*ck with someones life if they make a personal choice to use cannabis and get caught. That is bull.

Possession penalties for marijuana are stupid. Hopefully the laws change soon.

The most dangerous thing about marijuana is the fact that it's illegal and thus totally unregulated. I mean, I think there probably should be laws against selling to minors, driving, or operating dangerous machinery with too high of a blood level, similar to alcohol. Also, sellers should have to tell you exactly what you're getting when you buy it so you know the exact concentration of psychoactive components and whether there's anything mixed with it.

Have you thought about posting this in a legal forum? There are some good ones out there (like expertlaw), and since the laws on possession tend to vary from state to state (assuming you are in the U.S.), it would be best to get advice from a lawyer in your home state based on the specifics of your situation.

And sorry you got flamed for asking a simple question - there are some sanctimonious jerks out there.

Expungement would depend entirely on the state the conviction happened in. Different states have different expungement procedures. It'd also depend on if you got convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, too. If it's a federal felony arrest, then you're kinda screwed, but it doesn't quite sound like that. If you were a juvenile when it happened, your state could have "youthful offender" status and just auto expunge convictions. My state, after 10 years, automatically erases the arrest from the public view.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expungement If your state is there, that's how it's done in your state.

As far as South Korea, it would depend if you're going through a US Agency and how stringent the US Agency is. Obviously in South Korea, probably the only thing they'd really have knowledge to do is to lookup federal records, so if you got no federal crimes, you should be good, but you'd have to lie I guess. If on the other hand, you're going through a US Agency, with US people doing interviewing, etc, you'll probably have to just explain it to them as you would any other potential employer. They might not even care. Then again, they might, you don't really know.

One thing on Japan, technically Japan will deny entry to anyone with any kind of criminal record from US into Japan. I've heard of people who put down a DUI on the immigration sheet getting handcuffed and denied entry, however, unless your conviction was federal, the likelihood of the Japanese government finding out is pretty slim.

Wish I could be of more help, but yeah.

I flipped through some of your other posts to see where you're from, Alienboy. Here is your answer:

California Marihuana Laws

Looks like pot was decriminalized a year ago but prior to that, records were expunged as a routine course of business after two years as long as it was under an ounce. Enjoy South Korea.

Edit - Link fixed

Juvenile records are rarely expunged, they are merely "sealed", meaning that a security check will reveal only that you have a juvenile record, but not what that record holds. The exception being when the juvenile is tried and convicted as an adult.

For those who whine about how "unfair" or "unjust" they think the laws are, why not get yourselves elected to a position where you can change those laws?

Oh, wait ... the ones who whine the most are usually those who have broken those laws in the first place.

Too bad.

there are sites where you can go and do a background check on people. You do have to pay but I'm sure there are ways in which you can obtain a background check report of yourself to see if anything pops up. I was also interested in teaching English in South Korea. If you're trying to teach in Korea through an agency, ask them first to see what they say about it. There are always other options such as private tutoring but you'll need connections though.