[Anchor]

A police officer identified by his surname Boo, who is suspected of falsely closing missing persons cases in Jeju, has admitted to all allegations, stating, "I took it lightly because the missing person was an ordinary adult." The police transferred Officer Boo to the prosecution today (September 1) under arrest on charges including dereliction of duty.

Reporter Park Hyeon-seok has the details.

[Reporter]

The Jeju Provincial Police Agency announced that Officer Boo, the suspect in the Jeju false missing persons case closure incident, stated during questioning, "I was complacent because the missing person was an ordinary adult, and I felt burdened by the prospect of having to handle numerous tasks if I did not close the cases, leading me to falsely close them out."

Five profilers and psychological analysts deployed to investigate Officer Boo concluded that the primary motive behind the crime was "work negligence driven by fatigue from accumulated work pressure and heavy responsibility."

The profilers analyzed, "It is estimated that Officer Boo's evasive coping style and irresponsible attitude combined to result in the crime."

Officer Boo is accused of receiving a missing person report for a woman in her 30s, surnamed Jang, on May 15, and falsely notifying the reporter—despite never having spoken with Jang—that "contact was made with the missing person, and she asked not to disclose her location," thereby fraudulently closing the case.

Two and a half hours after receiving the report, he closed the 112 emergency call on the 112 reporting system and entered it as a "traffic accident fatality" in the missing persons profiling system to finalize the closure of Jang's case.

Ms. Jang was found dead on August 24 in a palm tree farm about 400 meters away from her accommodation, 104 days after she was reported missing.

Officer Boo also falsely closed a missing person report for a man in his 60s received on July 2, claiming that "contact was made with the missing person." Following renewed reports by the man's family, he was found dead at a construction site in Jeju on August 22.

The Jeju Provincial Police Agency transferred Officer Boo to the prosecution today under arrest on charges of dereliction of duty, forgery and uttering of official electronic records, and obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means.

(Video Editing: Park Ji-in)