KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 — A 20-year-old South Korean student was acquitted and discharged of a drug trafficking charge after a local police officer admitted that he had lied to the High Court.

The Star Online reported that Kim Yun Soung was released by the High Court in Seremban after the prosecution decided to not continue the case. He had been remanded for almost a year.

"After taking into account submissions by both parties, I hereby acquit and discharge the accused,” judge Abu Bakar Jais was quoted saying.

In October last year, Kim was charged with trafficking 219g of cannabis at an apartment in Bandar Baru Nilai in Negri Sembilan, an amount that would have attracted the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.

The Star reported that the 27-year-old inspector had conceded to lying in court, after the defence team revealed it possessed video evidence that would refute his earlier testimony regarding the raid on Kim’s home.

Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, who represented Kim, argued in today’s proceedings that the police officer, who led the raid, was not a credible witness since he admitted to perjury.

"He brazenly lied. It was only after we challenged and told him that we would initiate contempt proceedings against him as we had evidence he was lying, did he admit to it,” Gobind reportedly said.

The prosecution led by deputy public prosecutor Rahimah Abd Majid had previously asked for Kim to be given a discharge but not amounting to an acquittal, which would have allowed them to reopen his case later.

However, Gobind insisted that Kim should be fully acquitted as he had been held in remand for nearly a year.