"Lying About Speaking on the Phone"... Police Officer Partially Admits to 'False Case Closure'

[Anchor]

A police officer who was arrested for falsely closing at least two missing persons cases in Jeju has finally admitted that his claim of having spoken with the missing person was a lie. Why he lied has not yet been revealed.

Reporter Kim Minjun.

[Reporter]

Police Officer Bu, assigned to the Jeju Western Police Station and arrested on the 25th, had consistently maintained that he spoke with a missing person identified by the surname Chang.

When he closed the case just two and a half hours after initially receiving the missing person report for Chang on May 15, he told the family and others that his statement that he "got in touch with Chang" was true.

However, regarding Chang—whom he claimed to have spoken with—Officer Bu had entered "traffic accident death" into the internal police system.

According to reports, last night (the 27th), police presented mobile carrier call logs along with autopsy results suggesting that Chang was already presumed dead prior to the initial missing person report, at which point Officer Bu reportedly partially admitted to the charges.

This means he has acknowledged that his previous statements were false.

While the motive for the crime remains unclear, a police official stated, "Due to the possibility of him changing his statement again, we cannot provide specific details regarding the background of his admission."

To determine the cause of death of Chang, who was found dead about 100 days after the missing person report was falsely closed, police also conducted a meticulous forensic examination of areas such as a palm tree farm.

This is because suspicions have been raised in online communities and elsewhere, keeping the controversy alive, although the possibility of homicide is currently considered low.

Police plan to forward Officer Bu to the prosecution next week and explain the motive and other details through an official briefing.

Following the Jang Yoon-ki case, criticism over shoddy investigations has flared up once again, prompting the National Police Agency to issue a special alert banning all police officers nationwide from drinking alcohol and gathering for dinner for ten days, running until September 6.

(Video by Lee Sang-min | Graphics by Park Taeyoung)

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