▲ Jeju Missing Person Case
As concerns over public safety in Jeju grow following the false closure of the missing person case involving 37-year-old Chang Mi-ran, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province has decided to extend the retention period for public closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from 30 days to 60 days or more. It also plans to establish a joint response system for missing person cases involving the police, fire department, and coast guard.
The provincial government held a meeting on safety measures for Jeju involving relevant organizations this morning (the 27th) at Samdaholl Hall in the Jeju Provincial Government complex, presided over by Jeju Governor Wi Seong-gon. The meeting was attended by representatives from the police, coast guard, fire department, autonomous police, volunteer firefighters, and private safety organizations such as the local autonomous disaster prevention corps, finalizing a Jeju-style comprehensive safety plan.
First, the provincial government will form a response consultative body for missing person and crisis cases this month, involving the province, the Autonomous Police Committee, police, fire department, coast guard, administrative cities, and private organizations.
Currently, Jeju lacks a province-wide consultative body and integrated manual to jointly respond to missing person and crisis cases.
The provincial government plans to draw up an integrated manual by early next month outlining the roles and reporting systems of each organization across the process of reporting, situation assessment, search and rescue, information disclosure, family support, and case closure.
When a missing person case occurs, resources owned by each organization—such as drones, search dogs, vessels, personnel, and disaster text messages—will be rapidly deployed upon police request.
To prepare for long-term missing person cases, the province is also pursuing a plan to extend the public CCTV footage retention period from the current 30 days to 60 days or more.
Governor Wi stated, "It is projected that adding about 30 days will cost over 8 billion won," adding, "We expect to be able to pursue this starting next year through consultations with the government."
Regarding personal information protection issues, he explained, "We will work out the issue of expanding the retention period through discussions with the Personal Information Protection Commission and other bodies."
The province will also expand AI-based CCTVs.
It plans to raise the penetration rate of AI CCTVs from the current 58 percent to 75 percent by 2030, reducing CCTV blind spots centering on vulnerable areas such as coastal zones and Olle trails.
Furthermore, the detection targets for AI CCTVs will be expanded from missing persons and falls to include fires, flooding, violence, and coastal hazards, with 78 monitoring operators conducting 24-hour real-time surveillance.
The Autonomous Police Corps will implement special safety measures mobilizing all available personnel for 30 days starting tomorrow (the 28th) through September 27.
Daytime patrol personnel will be increased from a maximum of 14 teams (28 people) to 20 teams (40 people), and nighttime personnel from a maximum of 4 to 9 teams (8 to 16 people) to 8 teams (16 people).
During the day, intensive patrols will be conducted in secluded areas such as Olle trails, volcanic cones (oreum), and coastal areas, while nighttime patrols will move beyond vehicle-centric monitoring to step up foot and fixed-point patrols in vulnerable locations prone to crime.
A total of 372 members of the community autonomous police and private organizations such as senior clubs will also participate in patrolling Olle trails, coasts, and mid-mountain areas.
Safety measures for solo travelers will also be established.
By linking with lodging facilities and car rental companies, manuals will be created to report and respond when solo travelers go missing or lose contact, while major tourist spots will provide emergency reporting guides using QR codes and location information.
Safety monitoring of the Jeju Olle trails will also be reinforced.
The provincial government stated that no signs have yet appeared indicating that the recent controversy over the missing person cases has led to a decline in tourists.
According to the province, no distinct changes have emerged in daily inbound visitor trends even after the incident was first reported on the 19th, and no tourist reservation cancellations related to safety issues have been confirmed to date.
Asked whether the provincial government can directly make up for the police's false closure of the missing person case, which lies at the core of this incident, Governor Wi responded, "There is no scope for the provincial government to intervene regarding the false closure," but added, "I am establishing countermeasures from the standpoint of taking comprehensive responsibility for the safety of residents and tourists as the provincial governor."
In addition, regarding ways to doubly check missing persons in Jeju's administrative system—such as dementia patients and lonely deaths—he noted, "I will look into those aspects once more."
Governor Wi also stated that he will actively respond to unverified claims circulating mainly on social networking services, such as assertions that crime has increased in Jeju or that organ trafficking is taking place.
He emphasized, "This incident occurred in the process of the police's missing person report handling procedures breaking down," adding, "We are taking seriously the issue of it being spread as if Jeju has suddenly become dangerous when it has not."
The provincial government plans to constantly monitor media, social networking services, and online communities centering on its spokesperson's office, and to verify facts with related agencies such as the police to take action if misinformation spreads.
Previously in Jeju, it was successively revealed that police officers in charge of missing person cases lied that they had made contact with missing persons and arbitrarily closed the cases.
A man in his 60s who was handled by this police officer was found dead on the 22nd, and a person surnamed Chang who went missing last May was also found dead in Hallim-eup, Jeju City, on the 24th, 104 days after disappearing.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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