Korean man found not guilty in appeals court over 'chocolate pie theft' from company refrigerator

A man in his 40s who nearly lost his job in the so-called "choco pie theft case" was found not guilty in an appeals court. The Jeonju District Court announced on the 27th that he was on trial for theft.
The court overturned the sentence of the plaintiff, who had been sentenced to a fine of 50,000 won (approximately 5,300 yen) at the appeal sentencing hearing of defendant A (41), and found him not guilty.
Defendant A, who works at a cheap company, was charged with eating a chocolate pie worth 450 won (about 47 yen) and a custard cream worth 600 won (about 63 yen) that were in the company refrigerator on January 18th last year.
At the time, Mr. B, the director of the logistics company, saw the CCTV footage and reported Defendant A. Defendant A was investigated based on Mr. B's accusation and initially sought 500,000 won (approximately 50,300 yen).
Although he received a summary order for a fine of 100 yen, Defendant A maintained his innocence and requested a formal trial. If Defendant A is found guilty of theft, he may lose his job under the Security Business Act.
Prior to this, the first trial court ruled that Defendant A's theft charges were valid. The first trial court found that the office of the company where the incident occurred was restricted to employees of partner companies, and that Defendant A's theft charges were unjust.
The court sentenced defendant A to a fine of 50,000 won on the grounds that he knew that he had no authority to dispose of snacks in the refrigerator. Dissatisfied with the ruling, defendant A appealed.
As a result of the appeals court's ruling, Defendant A is expected to be able to continue working in security services.