[Anchor]

The police officer in charge of the case involving Jang Mi-ran has handled a total of 298 missing person reports so far. Including this case, it appears necessary to re-examine from square one how the police have handled adult missing person cases up to now.

Reporter Kwon Min-kyu has the details.

[Reporter]

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

Inspector A had worked in the missing persons team for about a year and five months until the 11th, when he was suspended from his duties.

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

Among the approximately 70,000 adult missing person reports filed with 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.

[Professor Park Dong-gyun, Department of Police Administration, Daegu Haany University: There could be cases where they actually occurred but are not captured in the missing persons statistics. A much larger number than what is being grasped....]

Current laws related to missing persons focus on preventing the disappearance of children under the age of 18, dementia patients, and people with intellectual disabilities. Critics point out that adults aged 18 and older are referred to as "runaways" who left home voluntarily, which can lead to complacent attitudes among the police.

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

The "Missing Persons Profiling System," introduced in 2011, has also been pointed out as problematic because the officer in charge can close a case without approval from a superior, leaving no way for other police officers to filter out a single officer's manipulation of cases.

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

[Kang Yu-jung, Senior Presidential Spokesperson: The President expressed deep dismay and regret. He instructed that fundamental renewal measures as well as internal police reform plans be prepared.]

In Jeju, bodies presumed to be missing persons were discovered consecutively today (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 National Police Agency initiated an inspection today into the process of falsely concluding the Jeju missing person case and the overall command and management.

(Video by Lee Hong-myung, Graphics by Hwang Se-yeon)