Police Officer A of the Jeju Seobu Police Station, who falsely closed the missing person case of a woman surnamed Chang, has been found to have failed to properly respond to another missing person report involving a man in his 60s, even after being told that the man "failed in business and has a lot of debt."

According to 112 emergency report data submitted by the office of Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Sang-sik to the National Police Agency today (August 25), the wife of a man identified as B reported at 6:02 p.m. on July 2 that her husband had left home on June 28 and could not be reached.

She also informed police that "(her husband) failed in business and has a lot of debt," and told their child, "Eat well and live well."

This conveyed circumstances that raised suspicions of a potential threat to his safety.

However, investigations revealed that Police Officer A closed the case by treating it as safe without directly verifying B's location or safety.

After coming across news reports that the missing person case of Chang had been falsely closed, B's family reported the matter to the police again on the 21st.

The police discovered B dead in Gujwa-eup, Jeju City, the following day, the 22nd.

Police Officer A is also suspected of falsely closing the missing person case after receiving a report regarding Chang last May, lying that "I got in touch with Chang, but she asked not to disclose her location."

The body presumed to be Chang was found on the 24th, 104 days after she went missing, at a palm tree plantation about 400 meters away from her accommodation.

The police are conducting a full inspection of 298 missing person cases handled and closed by Police Officer A.

(Photo: Yonhap News)