Senior Jeju police officers removed from duty over missing-person scandal

The Jeju missing-person scandal deepened Tuesday as senior officers were removed from duty and new details emerged about how a police officer allegedly falsely closed cases involving two people who were later found dead.

Four senior officers at Jeju Seobu Police Station have been suspended from their duties in connection with the cases, the National Police Agency said.

The officer at the center of the investigation, surnamed Bu, is accused of closing missing-person cases after falsely claiming to have confirmed the safety of those reported missing.

The four officers removed from duty are the current chief of Jeju Seobu Police Station, the chief who headed the station when 37-year-old Jang Mi-ran was reported missing, the head of the detective division, and the leader of the team handling missing-person cases.

The NPA said it is conducting an internal inspection to determine whether the officers properly supervised the handling of the cases, and whether they should be held responsible for failures in command and oversight.

The case has escalated into a broader examination of Korea’s missing-person system, raising questions over how a lower-ranking officer could close cases without properly verifying people’s safety and whether supervisors failed to catch repeated problems. It has also prompted concerns that similar cases may have been improperly closed elsewhere.

Bu, a Jeju Seobu Police Station officer in his 30s, allegedly closed Jang’s case after claiming to have spoken with her and telling her family that she did not want her whereabouts disclosed.

He is facing charges including dereliction of duty, falsifying and using official electronic records, and obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means.

Because Bu allegedly closed the case without actually confirming Jang’s safety, her family later filed another missing-person report in Seoul on July 19.

Potentially important evidence was lost during that period, including surveillance footage near Jang’s accommodation that had already been deleted by the time police began reviewing it.

A body believed to be Jang’s was found Monday at a palm farm about 400 meters from her accommodation, 104 days after she was reported missing.

Investigators found no record on Bu’s personal or work phone of the conversation he claimed to have had with Jang, and no such record was found on Jang’s phone either.

Police also found that Bu had allegedly closed another missing-person case involving a man in his 60s in a similar manner. The man was later found dead on Aug. 22.

Police are reviewing all 298 missing-person reports that Bu handled and closed to determine whether any others were improperly terminated.

Police agencies nationwide have since begun reviewing previously closed missing-person reports.

In Busan, police are reviewing cases filed from January 2024 through July this year. Of 25,605 missing-person reports filed during that period, 25,376, or 99 percent, were closed.

Seoul police have separately begun reviewing about 92,800 missing-person reports filed and later closed in the capital since January 2024.

Bu was taken into emergency custody on Aug. 22 but released Monday after the Jeju District Court ruled that the arrest did not meet the legal requirement of urgency.

Police later sought a formal arrest warrant for Bu.

Criticism intensified Tuesday after police records showed that officers had been alerted to signs that the man in his 60s could have been at risk before Bu allegedly closed his case.

According to police data disclosed by Rep. Lee Sang-sik of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, the man’s wife told police that he had substantial business debt and had made remarks to his children that could have raised concerns about his safety before leaving home on June 28.

Acting National Police Agency Commissioner Yoo Jae-seong has apologized for the handling of Jang’s case. Police have moved to strengthen senior-level verification before missing-person cases can be closed.