Court withholds punishment for convenience store worker who took food, supplies
The court cited the small financial loss and the fact that some of the food that the employee took was past its sell-by date.
A shelf filled with instant noodle products in CU's Hongdae Sangsang Branch, Mapo District, western Seoul, on July 23
KIM MIN-YOUNG
A court has found a convenience store worker guilty of stealing about 28,000 won ($20) worth of food and supplies without permission but withheld punishment, citing the small financial loss and the fact that some of the food was past its sell-by date.
The Chungju branch of Cheongju District Court suspended the imposition of a 200,000 won fine for theft, legal sources said on Monday.
A suspension of imposition of sentence allows a court that has found a defendant guilty of a minor offense to withhold the penalty. If two years pass without the court nullifying the suspension, then the defendant is effectively acquitted.
The worker, employed part-time at a convenience store in Chungju, North Chungcheong, took samgak gimbap (triangular seaweed rice rolls), a plastic bag, soda and other products on three occasions in September 2025. Some of the food had passed its sell-by date.
During the trial, the worker admitted to taking the plastic bag but denied intentionally stealing the other items, explaining that they thought the owner allowed employees to take food marked for disposal.
The court rejected the argument since the owner had told employees to register food past its sell-by date as waste for inventory control and place it in a separate basket. Employees could eat or take items in the store only with permission.
“The defendant did not register the products in question as waste, and some, including the soda, do not appear to have been food designated for disposal,” the court said. “The defendant took the items despite recognizing at least the possibility that the owner had not given them permission to do so.”
“We considered that the defendant admitted the offense, the small amount of loss and how some of the items appeared to be food past their sell-by dates,” the court continued.
BY JANG GU-SEUL [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
