The lower court recognized that the Defendant was led to a confession before the judgment of the first instance court became final and conclusive with respect to the crime of false accusation against the Defendant, and subsequently, reversed the judgment of the lower court, and sentenced the Defendant to a fine of KRW 3 million, which is the same as the first instance court, through legal mitigation.

In such a case, the sentence itself does not necessarily require more than that prescribed by the first instance court (see, e.g., Supreme Court Decisions 83Do1984, Sept. 27, 1983; 2003Do4773, Oct. 23, 2003). Therefore, the lower court did not err by misapprehending the legal doctrine on statutory mitigation under Articles 157 and 153 of the Criminal Act, contrary to the allegations in the grounds of appeal.

In addition, pursuant to Article 383 subparagraph 4 of the Criminal Procedure Act, only in cases where death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment with or without prison labor for more than ten years is imposed, an appeal may be filed on the grounds of unfair sentencing. As such, in this case where a more minor sentence is imposed against the defendant, the argument that the sentence is unfair because it is too unreasonable is not a legitimate ground for appeal

Therefore, the appeal is dismissed. It is so decided as per Disposition by the assent of all participating Justices on the bench.