▲ Police Inspector A, suspected of falsely closing missing persons cases, exits the Jeju District Court after a pre-trial detention hearing on the 25th.
Are the cases involving a missing Jeju woman named Jang Mi-ran and a man in his 60s the only instances where a Jeju police officer falsely closed missing person reports?
As a full-scale investigation is underway into missing person cases handled by Police Inspector A, speculation grows that there may be additional cases where he falsely closed files.
Given that Inspector A, who was arrested on charges of falsely closing cases, handled a staggering 298 cases alone from March of last year until the 11th of this month—when he was relieved of his duties—and frequently took on night shifts without needing to worry about other officers watching him, weight is lent to the possibility that more cases exist.
It was revealed that both the case of Ms. Jang and another falsely closed case involving a man in his 60s occurred during night shifts when Inspector A was working alone after other officers on the missing persons team had gone home.
Four members of the missing persons team at the Jeju Seobu Police Station, including Inspector A, rotated night shifts once every four days.
Furthermore, Inspector A exhibited untrustworthy behavior, such as lying to reporters to reassure them in order to close the cases.
While handling Ms. Jang's missing person case received during a night shift last May, Inspector A closed the case by lying to the person who filed the report, telling them that "Ms. Jang is safe."
He deleted the record from the missing persons profiling system management list by inputting the code for "traffic accident casualties."
This implied that Ms. Jang had died in a traffic accident.
The missing persons profiling system requires selecting specific category codes, such as unidentified bodies or traffic accident casualties, to delete related data from the system's management list.
According to police investigations, it is known that there are about 10 additional cases suspected of being arbitrarily and falsely closed by Inspector A so far.
While it is reported that in many of these cases, contact was actually made with the missing persons, if there are instances where individuals' whereabouts remain unknown and they are still missing, there is a possibility that their safety could be in jeopardy.
In response, the police maintain only that "verification work is currently underway, and no suspicious cases have been found yet."
However, voices are calling for any additional instances of false case closures to be revealed swiftly and transparently, as there have been previous instances where the details of the investigation released by the police differed from the facts.
Previously on the 24th, the Jeju Provincial Police Agency stated that the number of cases handled by Inspector A under full investigation was around 200, but 1 to 2 hours later that same day, Acting National Police Agency Commissioner General Yoo Jae-sung stated at the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee that the figure was nearly 300 at 298 cases, showing a significant discrepancy.
In addition, as Acting Commissioner General Yoo disclosed detailed information regarding the investigation involving Inspector A at the National Assembly that day, matters that the Jeju Provincial Police Agency had previously withheld were broadcast live.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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