The body of a man in his 60s was discovered in Jeju yesterday (August 22).
The deceased was identified as Mr. A, who had been reported missing 51 days prior. After Mr. A's family, having witnessed the Jang Mi-ran missing person case, re-filed a missing person report with the police, authorities launched a reinvestigation and located the body within a day using mobile phone location tracking.
The police officer initially in charge of this case was Police Inspector B of the Jeju Seobu Police Station, the same officer who handled the case of Jang Mi-ran, who has been missing for three months.
Last month on July 2, Inspector B lied to Mr. A's family, telling them, "I spoke with the missing person on the phone, and he asked not to disclose his location," before self-closing the case on the internal police network.
Mr. A had not been in contact with his family ever since.
It is the exact same method used in the handling of Jang Mi-ran's case.
The most critical "golden time" to find the missing person was helplessly squandered yet again.
As public outrage boiled over, the Chief of the National Investigation Headquarters visited the Jeju Provincial Police Agency today, received a briefing on the case, and bowed their head in apology, stating, "I feel deeply apologetic to the public" and "We will institutionally reinforce measures to ensure such an incident never happens again."
Prime Minister Han Sung-sook also ordered the National Police Agency to conduct a thorough and exhaustive investigation into the entire investigative process.
Furthermore, the Prime Minister emphasized, "Respond strictly with a zero-tolerance policy toward prank calls or fake news that bring tears to the families of missing persons."
Police urgently arrested Inspector A yesterday on charges including dereliction of duty, falsification of official electronic records, and obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means.
(Reported by Yeo Hyeon-gyo | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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