Shin Dae-gyeong, the new chief prosecutor of the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office, said the prosecution would "look into what it can do within the bounds of common sense in relation to this trial" after a case in which a worker was indicted on theft charges for taking 1,050 won worth of snacks from a company refrigerator and eating them.
At his first press conference after taking office on the 22nd, Chief Prosecutor Shin said he first learned about the "Choco Pie case" through media reports and added, "It keeps being covered in articles, and I am very interested not only in the case itself but also in the circumstances behind it."
The "Choco Pie case" refers to an incident on Jan. 18, 2024, in an office of a logistics company in Wanju-gun, North Jeolla, where an employee of a partner company, identified only as A, secretly took and ate one Choco Pie worth 400 won and one custard cake worth 650 won, and was indicted on theft charges after a company official reported it.
Prosecutors summarily indicted A with a fine of 500,000 won, and the court issued a summary order of a 50,000 won fine, but A objected to the ruling and requested a formal trial to contest innocence. On Apr. 29, the first-instance court sentenced A to a 50,000 won fine, and A appealed the ruling, with the appellate trial now underway.
Mentioning the case at the briefing, Chief Prosecutor Shin said, "There is criticism that the prosecution amplified the case by not granting a suspension of indictment," adding, "Given that the suspect does not admit criminal intent and the victim side strongly wants severe punishment, it is presumed that, from the prosecutor's standpoint, it would have been difficult to dispose of this case with a suspension of indictment."
He said this case has similarities to the "half-and-half jokbal case" that occurred in Jul. 2020, noting, "In that case as well, beyond the simple question of embezzlement, there were circumstances behind the case, such as payroll settlement between the convenience store owner and the part-time worker." At the time, a convenience store employee was indicted on charges of eating a 5,900 won jokbal after mistaking the disposal time for the food, but was acquitted at first instance. The prosecution then accepted the opinion of the Prosecutors' Citizens Committee and gave up appealing.
He added, "If this case had resulted in an acquittal at first instance, we would consider dropping the appeal, but since a guilty verdict has been handed down, we are looking into what we can do," and "We plan to implement any special measures available after identifying the reporting background and the indictment background."