Police Probe Motive of Officer Detained Over Falsely Closing Jeju Missing Person Cases

Jeju police have intensified their investigation into the motive behind the actions of Police Officer A, who was emergency arrested on charges of falsely closing missing person cases.

Leaving the detention center at the Jeju Dongbu Police Station on the afternoon of August 23, Officer A boarded a transport vehicle with his head bowed, offering no response to reporters' questions regarding the reasons for falsely closing the cases.

A police official stated, "We are investigating Officer A regarding the motives and other details behind the false closure of the missing person case," adding, "We cannot disclose the location of the investigation."

Another police official stated, "We may conduct investigations until the emergency arrest expiration period on the afternoon of the 24th and apply for an arrest warrant."

Police plan to expedite the investigation as much as possible and hold a press briefing sometime next week.

Officer A was emergency arrested on the afternoon of August 22 on charges of dereliction of duty, forgery and uttering of official electronic records, and obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means.

Officer A is accused of lying to a reporter by claiming to have made contact with Jang Mi-ran (37), who was reported missing last May, before arbitrarily closing the case and deleting Jang's data from the management list in the missing person profiling system.

Officer A is also accused of falsely closing another missing person case using a similar method on July 2 of last month.

Jang has been missing for about three months, prompting large-scale searches, while the other missing person was found dead at a location in Jeju the previous day.

The false case closures by Officer A, a serving police officer, have exposed institutional loopholes surrounding how police handle missing person cases.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.