"The Officer Handled 298 Missing Persons Cases"... Are There More Cover-ups?

[Anchor]

It has been confirmed that the police officer who falsely closed the missing person case of Jang Mi-ran handled a total of 298 missing person reports over a period of about a year and a half. Critics point out that structural issues allowed these actions to go unnoticed, making it necessary to check right now how many more people the police failed to find in a timely manner.

This report is by Kwon Min-kyu.

[Reporter]

Police Inspector A of the Jeju Western Police Station, who handled the Jang Mi-ran missing person case with false reports, was investigated for handling a total of 298 missing person reports, including Jang's case.

Inspector A worked in the missing persons unit for about 1 year and 5 months until the 11th, when he was suspended from duties.

[Yoo Jae-seong, Acting Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency: As I have been briefed, 298 cases were handled. Through a comprehensive inspection, we will make it clearer whether there are any more cases like this....]

Among the approximately 70,000 adult missing person reports received by the police last year, 99.7% of the cases were concluded without full-scale searches.

Only 0.3% of cases remain unresolved with the missing status maintained, raising growing doubts over whether missing person cases have been handled properly all along.

[Professor Park Dong-gyu, Department of Police Administration at Daegu Haany University: There could be cases like this that actually occurred but are not captured in the missing persons statistics. The actual number is likely much higher than what is being grasped....]

Current laws regarding missing persons focus on preventing the disappearance of children under 18, dementia patients, and individuals with intellectual disabilities. Critics point out that adults aged 18 and over are referred to as "runaways" who left home of their own accord, which can lead the police to have a complacent attitude.

[Professor Yum Kun-woong, Division of Police and Fire Administration at U1 University: Families of missing persons tend to place more weight on the possibility that someone has disappeared due to someone else. However, the police currently begin their investigation from the opposite side of that presumption.]

The "Missing Persons Profiling System," introduced in 2011, also allows assigned police officers to close cases without approval from a superior, which has been pointed out as a problem because other officers cannot filter out a single police officer's manipulation of cases.

President Lee Jae-myung ordered a thorough investigation into the entire police investigation process regarding this missing person case.

[Kang Yu-jung, Senior Presidential Spokesperson: The President expressed a deeply devastated heart and sorrow. He ordered the preparation of fundamental overhaul measures as well as self-reform plans for the police.]

In Jeju, bodies presumed to be missing persons were successively discovered yesterday (the 24th) in a valley in Aewol-eup and off the coast of Jocheon-eup, bringing the total number of missing bodies found in just two days since the 22nd to four.

The Korean National Police Agency has launched an inspection into the overall process of falsely closing the Jeju missing person case and its command and management.

(Video by Lee Hong-myeong, Design by Hwang Se-yeon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.