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Police prepare for an intensive search at Hallim Port in Hallim-eup, Jeju City, on the 20th to find Jang Mi-ran, who has been missing for three months amid inadequate responses including false closures of missing person reports. / Yonhap News

Amid revelations that a police officer in Jeju repeatedly falsely closed missing person cases, National Investigation Headquarters Chief Hong Suk-ki said, "I sincerely apologize to the public," and pledged to pursue institutional reforms to prevent a recurrence. Police plan to conduct a nationwide review of all missing person cases to check for similar false closures, while also mobilizing all available personnel for the ongoing search for long-term missing persons in Jeju.

According to police on the 23rd, Chief Hong visited the Jeju Metropolitan Police Agency that day to review the status of the missing person investigation, telling reporters afterward, "Since this involves matters of life and public safety, I came to check on the ground whether there were any shortcomings," adding, "We will make institutional improvements to ensure this never happens again."

Hong also stressed that field-level response would be strengthened even before institutional reforms are put in place. He said, "Beyond institutional improvements, I strongly reprimanded officers to reset their mindset in conducting field investigations, even before those reforms take effect."

At the Jeju Metropolitan Police Agency that day, Hong received a briefing on the investigation and search status for the case of Jang Mi-ran (37), reported missing in May. He also reviewed the status of the investigation into Officer A, a police corporal assigned to the missing persons investigation team at Jeju West Police Station who falsely closed the case, and gave instructions for follow-up measures.

According to police, while handling Jang's missing person report, Officer A closed the case without actually confirming her whereabouts, telling the person who filed the report that Jang was safe — a claim later found to be false. It was also confirmed that related records on Jang had been deleted from the management list in the police's missing person profiling system.

Officer A was also found to have falsely closed another missing person case in a similar manner, involving a man in his 60s identified as B, reported missing on the 2nd of last month. In both cases, police believe the officer told those who filed the reports that the missing individuals were safe and closed the cases without ever confirming their actual safety or whereabouts.

When Jang's family was still unable to reach her, they filed another missing person report last month. More than three months after the initial report, her whereabouts remain unknown. In B's case, his family similarly filed another report, prompting police to launch a search — but he was found dead on the 22nd.

Chief Hong instructed authorities to thoroughly carry out the ongoing nationwide review to check whether similar false closures had occurred in other missing person cases handled across the country. He also directed the Jeju Metropolitan Police Agency to mobilize all available personnel for the search and related investigation into Jang's case. Police will also review shortcomings in the oversight and management system governing how missing person cases are handled, examining whether there are structural problems that allow individual officers to arbitrarily close cases or remove them from active management, and will develop measures to prevent a recurrence.

Visiting the site of the search for Jang, Hong told officers on the ground, "Please make every effort to find clues toward confirming the missing person's safety and whereabouts, with the mindset of searching for your own family member," adding, "Since each and every missing person case is directly tied to the public's life and safety, investigations must be carried out more accurately and swiftly."

Police plan to investigate the specific circumstances of how Officer A handled the cases and falsely closed them, as well as questions of management and oversight responsibility, while also reviewing improvements to case closure procedures and the management system based on the results of the nationwide review of missing person cases.

                                                                                                         Seol So-young