Jeju: A police officer in Jeju has come under scrutiny for allegedly closing 25 additional missing person cases without proper investigation, in an effort to reduce his workload, authorities revealed. The officer, previously arrested for improperly closing two cases that may have led to the deaths of the individuals involved, is now facing charges of dereliction of duty and forgery.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Jeju Provincial Police Agency disclosed these findings during a media briefing. The officer, identified only as a corporal, reportedly admitted to closing cases involving "ordinary adults" to avoid the complexities of ongoing investigations. This misconduct was discovered after the officer's actions in two specific cases raised suspicions.
One case involved a woman, known only by her surname Jang, whose disappearance was prematurely closed in May. Her body was later discovered on the island in August. Similarly, the officer had closed the case of a man in his 60s in July, whose body was found in August as well. The officer initially claimed to have contacted the missing individuals, but later confessed to lying when confronted by investigators.
The police agency's investigation uncovered 25 more suspected false closures among the 298 cases managed by the officer during his tenure at the Jeju Seobu Police Station's missing persons team from March last year to July this year. In 10 of these cases, the officer is suspected of closing them without confirming the individuals' whereabouts, although all were eventually found safe. In the other 15 cases, the officer had verified the individuals' statuses but erased their records, citing reasons such as death by traffic accident or unnatural causes.