Jeju Assistant Inspector Falsely Closed 25 Missing Person Cases, Indicted in Custody
A Jeju West Police Station assistant inspector in his 30s, who falsified documents to make it appear he had handled missing person reports without actually verifying them, has been indicted in custody. He is accused of falsely closing a total of 25 cases, including two missing person reports filed in May and July, on charges of dereliction of duty, falsifying electronic records, and creating and using false official documents.
Mr. Jang, reported missing on May 15, was found dead on August 26 — 104 days later — at a palm tree farm in Hallim-eup, Jeju City. The National Forensic Service concluded that his body was too decomposed to determine the cause of death, raising the possibility of drowning. Police say there are no signs of criminal involvement based on where the body was found and his belongings, but the cause of death remains undetermined. The investigation has stalled because all CCTV footage related to Jang's disappearance has been deleted.
The assistant inspector with Jeju West Police Station has been indicted in custody by the Jeju District Prosecutors' Office on charges including dereliction of duty, falsifying electronic records, and creating and using false official documents. The National Police Agency's inspection unit has requested an investigation into eight people, including former and current chiefs of the criminal investigation division at Jeju West Police Station and fellow detectives who worked alongside the assistant inspector on the missing persons team (from March last year to July this year). All have been placed on standby, and on the 25th of last month, four command-level figures, including former and current station chiefs, were also put on standby.
The Jeju District Prosecutors' Office pointed out that supervision and direction from superiors were inadequate in the process of closing missing person cases. The principle of closing cases only after meeting the missing person in person was not followed, and even the 'joint review' — a key procedure for assessing possible criminal involvement for those not found within 12 hours — was carried out merely as a formality through group chat rooms. Prosecutors are analyzing internal messages secured through raids on the National Police Agency, Jeju Provincial Police Agency, and Jeju West Police Station.
The Jeju Provincial Police Agency reviewed all 298 missing person cases closed by the assistant inspector during his tenure from March last year to July this year and identified 25 suspected false closures. All of those cases were closed by him alone during overnight duty shifts. Supplementary prosecution findings revealed that when a closing reason such as 'found deceased' or 'traffic fatality' was entered, the profiling system immediately deleted the entry, leaving superiors and other team members unaware that the reports had even been received.
Prosecutors cited 'the burden of reporting to superiors and handing cases over to colleagues' as the motive. They added that he 'falsely closed cases based on the complacent assumption that adult missing persons would turn up alive somewhere.' Some of the falsely closed cases involved minors subject to management under the Missing Children Act, and police said none of the 25 additional false closure cases involved a missing person later found dead.
