Jeju Officer Arrested After Closing Missing-Person Cases Without Verification

Overview

• Police placed a Jeju officer under emergency arrest on Saturday on suspicion of dereliction of duty, falsifying official electronic records, and obstruction of official duties.
• Investigators found the officer logged contacts that phone records do not support and removed a missing person’s profile from the police database when closing the case.
• A second case the officer allegedly closed prematurely led to a man’s death and helped trigger the emergency detention and a wider review of his files.
• Hong Seok-ki of the KNPA apologized publicly and Prime Minister Han Seong-sook ordered a full investigation while the NPA has proposed supervisor verification steps for closing cases.
• Experts say the events reveal structural gaps because adult missing-person cases are handled under internal police rules that let officers remove a missing-person designation without supervisor approval, and they are urging statutory reforms to require clearer verification and search procedures.