After two years of prosecution, a security guard has been acquitted of taking a cookie worth less than a dollar from the office fridge

Anyone who works in an office will know about the petty politics around food. Whether it’s items stolen from the communal fridge, stinky food reheated in the microwave, or just the disgusting sounds of someone slurping and chomping their way through their lunch in the cubicle next door.

But this story from South Korea really takes the biscuit. Literally. In 2024, a 41-year-old security guard known only as Mr. A was patrolling the building at 4 am and took a single Choco Pie snack (value $0.72) from an office fridge. This was apparently a routine workplace practice, with delivery drivers working early shifts telling security guards to take an occasional snack “as a gesture of goodwill”.

That Choco Pie is only 1,050 won ($0.72), how much is the time and effort spent for the whole court case? https://t.co/wuN5RbGQkd

— TT🌻🌻the Dream Weaver (@leethingthing) November 28, 2025

But a company manager spotted the incident on CCTV, reported it to the police, and he was soon being prosecuted for his truly heinous crime. Under South Korean law, a theft conviction would have cost him his job and prevented him from seeking further employment as a security guard, so Mr A. requested a formal trial to clear his name.

Despite 39 of his colleagues underlining they’d eaten from the same fridge for decades without issue, prosecutors sought a 500,000 won fine (about $340) against him. Mr A was found guilty, though the judge sentenced him to a lesser fine of 50,000 won ($34).

“A modern Jean Valjean”

Public outrage followed, with Mr A. being dubbed “a modern Jean Valjean”. Bringing the full weight of South Korea’s justice system against a man for the “crime” of eating a cookie without permission was considered absurd. An appeal followed, and Mr. A has now been acquitted of all charges and can return to work.

A security guard who was prosecuted for eating snacks worth less than a dollar at a logistics company in Wanju, North Jeolla Province, has been acquitted on appeal, overturning a conviction that had threatened his job and livelihood.https://t.co/nKnhMOQF0N pic.twitter.com/CccLVnDkp0

— The Korea Herald 코리아헤럴드 (@TheKoreaHerald) November 27, 2025

But, incredibly, prosecutors are currently “reviewing the judgment” and considering appealing this all the way to the Supreme Court of Korea! It’s impossible to estimate exactly how much money has been spent on this one worker eating a snack, but it’s safe to say that it could have purchased a teetering tower of Choco Pies.

We have to wonder just what the motivation for this bizarre and absurd situation is. Does someone high-up want to make an example of Mr. A as a warning to anyone caught with their hand in the cookie jar? One thing’s for sure, South Korea is living up to being the country that gave the world the dystopian nightmare of Squid Game!