Part-Timer Who Took 20,000 Won Worth of Discarded Food Without Permission Given Suspended Sentence by Court

Chungju Branch of Cheongju District Court Suspends 200,000 Won Fine

Court: "Recognized That Goods Were Taken Without Store Owner's Permission"

The court suspended the sentence for a man in his 20s who worked part-time at a convenience store and was tried on theft charges after taking discarded food past its expiration date and other items without permission.

On the 17th, at the Chungju Branch of the Cheongju District Court, Judge Kim Juhyeon, presiding over Criminal Division 2, suspended a fine of 200,000 won for Mr. A (age 23), who had been indicted for theft charges. A suspended sentence is a ruling in which, for minor crimes, sentencing is postponed for a certain period; if two years pass from the date of suspension, it is effectively treated as if the conviction never occurred.

The court deferred sentencing for the convenience store part-time worker in their 20s who was prosecuted on theft charges.

Mr. A was brought to trial on charges of secretly taking goods such as triangle kimbap, plastic bags, and soda—worth approximately 28,000 won on three occasions—in September of last year from a convenience store in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, where he worked part-time. During the trial, he admitted to taking the plastic bags but claimed that he misunderstood the store owner’s instructions and believed he was allowed to take discarded products, asserting that he had no intention of committing a crime.

The court did not accept Mr. A’s claim, noting that the store owner had routinely instructed employees to separately place food past its expiration date in a basket after registering it as discarded for inventory management, and that consuming or removing discarded items from the store required explicit permission.

Judge Kim stated, “The defendant did not register these items as discarded, and some items, such as soda, cannot be regarded as discarded food. It is therefore recognized that, at least implicitly, the defendant was aware that he did not have the victim’s permission, yet still took the goods.”

Regarding the sentencing, the judge explained, “However, factors such as the defendant’s admission of the crime, the relatively small amount of damages, and that some of the items appear to have been food past its expiration date, were taken into consideration.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.