"Police Powers Expand, but Where Is Accountability?" Another 'Full-Scale Inspection' After 4-Year-Old Dies

On October 12, a father and his 4-year-old daughter were found dead in a parking lot in Seogwipo, Jeju. Inside the parked vehicle, traces of burned charcoal briquettes and the child's daycare bag were found. The child had been scheduled to return to her mother in Australia in just three days. The mother can now never see her daughter again—even though she had repeatedly asked the police to verify her daughter's safety.
01. Letting Go of a Child on the Verge of Reunion

What happened to this family? In October last year, Mr. A, a man in his 40s, entered South Korea from Australia with his 4-year-old daughter. At the time, he did not have the consent of his wife, with whom he was undergoing divorce proceedings. The wife immediately filed a lawsuit for the 'Hague Child Return' with the Seoul Family Court. This lawsuit is an international legal procedure requesting that a child taken to another country without authorization by a parent be returned to the country of habitual residence.

On March 30 this year, the court granted permission for compulsory execution allowing the wife to retrieve her daughter. Although Mr. A appealed, the appellate court also ruled in favor of the wife, ordering the daughter to be returned to Australia. Mr. A then resorted to another method. On October 2, citing a trip to the United States, he stopped sending the child to daycare. The wife requested emergency measures from an Australian court, which barely prevented their departure by canceling the daughter's passport.

However, on October 12, the daughter was ultimately found dead in the car of her husband, Mr. A, who was undergoing divorce proceedings. It was just three days before the scheduled date for the compulsory execution of the child's return.

02. Multiple Reports Had Already Been Made

The wife had asked the police for help multiple times starting in November last year. She reported Mr. A on charges of abduction and enticement of a minor and child abuse, and in December, alongside reports of Mr. A's child abuse and neglect, she informed police of his mental health history and past suicide attempts.
Last March, a neighbor reported suspected child abuse, stating that 'the child keeps crying,' but the police concluded that 'the child had just stayed up late crying,' and the wife was not even informed of this report.

In particular, after learning that Mr. A had stopped sending the child to daycare citing travel to the United States, she requested personal protection from the police, but the police handled her report as a simple civil complaint. All the wife received from the police was the response that 'there is nothing we can do.' Four days later, the daughter was found dead.

03. What Did They Miss?

The wife took every possible measure to ensure her daughter's safety.
She repeatedly asked the police to confirm her daughter's whereabouts and safety, and sought cooperation from relevant agencies through the Australian Embassy. In June, she filed a formal civil complaint with the Jeju Provincial Police Agency through the e-People petition portal and even checked the police's records of actions taken regarding the child abuse reports. Yet despite these efforts, she ultimately lost her daughter. What went wrong?

Police and local government child protection departments met with the father and daughter in person as many as eight times, and on-site investigations into suspected child abuse were conducted. Systems and procedures to protect children existed, and multiple investigations were indeed carried out. However, when the wife made her final report, the police did not check on the father and daughter again. This was despite new warning signs appearing just before the wife's last report: the child's withdrawal from daycare, Mr. A's mention of heading to the United States, and his disappearance.

The police explained that custody issues fall under the civil realm and that police do not have the authority to forcibly execute the return of a child. They added that no signs of danger had been detected during the eight previous in-person checks on the father and daughter. However, what the child's mother ultimately requested was not for them to forcibly bring her daughter back, but to check where her daughter was and whether she was safe at that moment. Had the police merely verified that last report, the outcome might have been different.

04. Repeated Warnings, Repeated Tragedies

In the early morning of October 12, a woman in her 40s was stabbed to death by her ex-partner in Yeon-dong, Jeju City. The victim had reported incidents of stalking and dating violence four times since last year. However, no restraining order was issued against the perpetrator. The police, citing that the victim did not want a formal case filed, provided an emergency smartwatch and a self-defense alarm instead of taking compulsory measures. But during the crime, this smartwatch was torn away by the perpetrator, leaving the victim unable to even press the button.

On October 11, in Songpa, Seoul, a woman in her 20s who was under police protection due to domestic violence was abducted by her husband, and during this process, the woman's mother was stabbed to death. This occurred just 11 days after the restraining order issued against the perpetrator had expired. The female victim also had a smartwatch provided by the police, but its power was turned off at the time.

While these three cases are all separate incidents, they share one common element: there were already warning signs and cries for help. Yet, the police response failed to extend to actually preventing the harm.

05. Yet Another 'Full-Scale Inspection'

Following the string of incidents, the National Investigation Headquarters of the Korean National Police Agency announced that it would conduct a full-scale inspection of relationship crime cases and the status of victim safety measures nationwide. They stated that they would re-examine high-risk individuals and even some closed reports among cases of stalking, dating violence, and domestic violence.

However, this is not the first time the police have initiated a full-scale inspection. Last March, a similar full-scale inspection was conducted following a stalking murder in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province. Yet, such relationship crimes continue unabated.

06. Expanded Investigative Powers, but What About Responsibility?

While police missteps continue, the police's investigative responsibility has become all the more crucial. On October 2, the Prosecutors' Office was abolished, and the Public Prosecution Service and the Major Crimes Investigation Agency were launched. A new criminal justice system separating investigation and indictment began in earnest. As prosecutors' authority to conduct direct investigations and direct supplementary investigations disappeared, the discretionary judgment and role of the police, who handle the primary investigation of general criminal cases, became even more critical.

Of course, receiving reports and protecting citizens in danger has been a role undertaken by the police even before the abolition of the Prosecutors' Office. However, controversy continues that they have failed to prevent dangers despite repeated reports.

Whenever a murder case occurs, the police review their response systems and promise to prevent recurrence. But what citizens need is not an inspection after an incident occurs, but a protection system that actually works the moment danger is signaled. Now that the responsibility of the police has grown heavier, substantial changes befitting that responsibility seem necessary.


Deep Dive Q&A
Q1. In the Seogwipo, Jeju child death case, why did the police refuse on-site safety checks even though the biological mother won the 'Hague Child Return' lawsuit?

A1. The police cited as justification that child custody and return issues fundamentally fall within the civil domain, and that police lack direct legal authority to forcibly retrieve or execute the return of a child. They also emphasized that no signs of abuse or danger were detected during the eight prior in-person interviews with the father and daughter. However, what the biological mother requested was not compulsory execution, but rather 'verification of whereabouts and safety' in light of new warning signs such as the father's suicide history, suspension of daycare attendance, and disappearance. By classifying this as a simple civil complaint and failing to respond, controversy over police neglect arose.

Q2. What is the common limitation where victim protection measures failed to function properly in recent relationship crimes?

A2. The limitation was revealed that preventive measures are rendered useless when a perpetrator makes up their mind to commit a crime. In the Jeju dating murder case, the provided smartwatch was physically torn off by the perpetrator, preventing the victim from even pressing the report button, and in the Songpa domestic violence case, the crime was perpetrated immediately after the restraining order period expired. The blind spots of a passive protection system—which retracts compulsory measures and relies solely on mechanical equipment distribution on the grounds of a victim's refusal to report or failure to register a formal case, or relies solely on time-limited restraining orders—are pointed out as a common cause.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.