Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-jung on the 26th said, in connection with the false closure of a missing-person case in Jeju, "Please conduct a thorough review of long-term missing-person cases at all police agencies nationwide."
The Minister convened an "emergency police leadership meeting" that day and, noting that "once lost, trust is very hard to regain," stated accordingly.
The meeting was arranged to discuss ways to restore trust in the police as public anxiety over the Jeju missing-person case grew. From the Korean National Police Agency, acting Commissioner Yu Jae-seong and all bureau and office heads attended.
It is quite unusual for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) Minister to hold an emergency meeting with the Korean National Police Agency leadership. This is seen as reflecting the government's view that the police's current situation is extremely serious. President Lee Jae-myung, after ordering a thorough investigation into the truth of the Jeju case, also directed the prime minister to push police reform. The ruling party launched a police reform task force.
The Minister said, "Not long after a police corruption case occurred in Gwangju, yet another case of police misconduct and breakdown of discipline has happened, causing great anxiety in our society," adding, "As the Minister of the Interior and Safety responsible for public safety, I take these acts of police misconduct very seriously."
He added, "I promise to establish thorough measures to prevent a recurrence so that this never happens again."
The Minister directed the police leadership attending the meeting that day to conduct a thorough fact-finding investigation into the Jeju missing-person case and to reexamine the police's overall work system.
He said, "Please scrutinize whether there is any connection to more serious misconduct, such as the motive and circumstances of this case and the concealment of other cases," and added, "If any misconduct or improper work practices come to light in the process, strict accountability must follow."
The Minister also said, "We need to check whether the current police system for missing-person cases is properly designed and operated," adding, "This case is both an individual deviation by those in charge and a revelation of structural flaws in the missing-person system."
He went on, "A reexamination of the entire scope of police duties is also necessary," noting, "Korean National Police Agency work involves many tasks that directly affect the public, such as public safety, protection of the socially vulnerable, and traffic. Among them, there may be issues with structural flaws, such as failure to prevent individual deviations like in this missing-person case."
The Korean National Police Agency reported to the Minister that day on measures to improve missing-person investigations and plans to reform the police investigative response system. The missing-person improvement measures included plans to improve missing-person teams and system operations, and to improve the recruitment of new police officers. The reform plans for the investigative response system included making the National Police Commission more substantive and establishing police investigation human rights and inspection bodies to strengthen the fairness of police investigations and dispel public concerns about case concealment.
The Korean National Police Agency plans to promptly implement the reported measures and plans, while also briefing the National Assembly and related agencies to push legal amendments and institutional improvements.
The Minister said, "With the launch of a new criminal justice system coming in Oct., we must continue strong reform measures to restore public trust."