Jeju: Prosecutors on Tuesday raided multiple police agencies over suspicions a police officer prematurely closed missing person cases on the southern island of Jeju and falsified system records, officials said.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Jeju District Prosecutors Office conducted searches at the Jeju Provincial Police Agency, the Jeju Seobu Police Station and the National Police Agency headquarters in Seoul. The raids were initiated after a police officer on Jeju was found to have prematurely closed at least two missing person cases. These cases involved a woman in her 30s surnamed Jang in May and a man in his 60s in July, with closures occurring without verifying their safety. Both individuals' bodies were recently discovered on the island.
The prosecutors office revealed that investigators would scrutinize the police's profiling system for missing people to determine its operational procedures. The officer allegedly accessed the system in administrator mode, inputting false reasons for the missing people's disappearance and subsequently deleting the records. This investigation may also explore whether senior police officials maintained proper oversight.
Separately, the Jeju Provincial Police Agency discovered 25 additional cases improperly closed by the officer between March 2025 and July 2026, prompting an internal investigation into these matters.