South Korea: Man in his 40s sentenced to prison on drug charges acquitted on appeal

A man in his 40s who was sentenced to prison in South Korea for providing illegal drugs to an acquaintance and using them himself was acquitted in an appeals court. This was based on the fact that the only direct evidence was the testimony of a witness.
The first criminal appeals division of the Busan District Court in South Korea ruled that the original judge who sentenced Mr. A to one year in prison in an appeal hearing for the appeal of Mr. A, who was indicted on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act, had a right to refuse the appeal.
On February 20, 2021, Mr. A handed over 0.12 grams of methamphetamine (also known as methamphetamine) to his acquaintance Mr. B at a motel in Yeonje-gu, Busan.
A was on trial for allegedly giving the drug to a man for free and then injecting it into his own arm with a disposable syringe. From the police investigation through to the trial, A denied the allegations made by the prosecution, saying, "There is no such fact."
He has consistently denied this. In the first trial, the defendant testified that B received drugs from the defendant and witnessed A using them, and that B had no reason to frame A, and that A had a criminal record for the same crime.
However, the appellate court found that the testimony of Mr. B, the only direct evidence of the indictment, was not credible beyond reasonable doubt.
In particular, the court stated, "It is not clear that B gave the defendant money and asked him to obtain drugs, but he himself did not use them and only saw the defendant use them.
In light of past experience, this is difficult to accept. Also, considering that Mr. B had a conflict with the defendant over the issue of not receiving the 600,000 won he had given, it is possible that he gave false testimony.
"The possibility cannot be ruled out," he said, explaining the reason for the acquittal.