Han Dong-hoon: "All CCTV Footage of Missing Person in Jeju Erased… Police Requested Access Two Months Later"

Regarding the case of a 37-year-old missing individual surnamed Chang in Jeju, CCTV footage from 118 cameras near the presumed disappearance site was completely deleted in mid-June, Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon revealed on August 23.

According to data submitted to lawmaker Han by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, none of the footage from the time of the disappearance remained across all 118 cameras, which included 111 security cameras in the Hallim-eup area where Chang vanished and 7 traffic information collection cameras operated by the Jeju Autonomous Police Department's Traffic Information Center.

It was found that no footage from May 12 to May 20, which includes the presumed date of disappearance (May 13), remained available.

The deletion dates were confirmed to be between June 11 and June 19.

Jeju Province responded to Han's office that this was due to automatic deletion.

The explanation was that the retention period for the footage from the 118 CCTV cameras is 30 days, and they were automatically erased as the time limit expired.

Police belatedly attempted to secure this footage, but it was long after the retention period had passed.

Lawmaker Han found that the official request for access to the security CCTV footage sent by the Jeju Seobu Police Station to Jeju Province was dispatched only on August 19.

This marks 98 days since the presumed date of disappearance, 96 days since the initial report (May 15), and 61 days since the footage was completely deleted (June 19).

Lawmaker Han pointed out, "CCTV footage that could have served as clues to determine the whereabouts of Chang, who went missing in Jeju, has vanished due to the police closing the case prematurely," adding, "At the time of the initial report on May 15, footage from all 118 cameras was fully preserved and could have been sufficiently secured."

He went on to criticize, "The criminal justice system is not designed on the premise that all investigators will be competent and diligent. Due to those limitations, double and triple safeguards were put in place, one of the core ones being the supplementary investigation authority. The Democratic Party stripped away those safeguards without providing alternatives. Ultimately, the device to filter out shoddy initial investigations disappeared, and the price is paid by the victim and their family."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.