Prompted by the "Jeju false-closure missing case," police will change the system so a case officer cannot close a missing-person case at their discretion and must obtain approval from a superior. Police also said they will prepare a legal basis to check and track location information for adult missing persons, similar to missing children.

According to the Korean National Police Agency on the 4th, Acting Commissioner Kim Jong-chul presided over a "review meeting on measures to overhaul missing-person investigations" that day and discussed these plans.

In the afternoon on the 3rd in Hallim-eup, Jeju City, Kim Jong-cheol, acting Commissioner of the Korean National Police Agency, and Kim Byung-chan, new Jeju Provincial Police Commissioner, inspect the site where a woman in her 30s surnamed Jang died, a case embroiled in controversy over a false closure. /Courtesy of News1

First, the "missing profiling system" will be improved so an individual case officer cannot close a missing-person case at their discretion and must obtain approval from the head of the criminal division, with implementation set for the 7th. Police will close received missing-person cases only after in-person confirmation, and the police station chief will personally review the case the day after it is filed.

Earlier, it was found that a sergeant named Bumo (34) at the Jeju Western Police Station, who is suspected of falsely closing a missing-person report, deleted related materials in the missing profiling system at their discretion, sparking controversy.

Police also decided to prepare a legal basis to allow checking of transit card usage records and location information for adult missing persons. Adult missing cases are classified as simple runaways until criminal suspicion is confirmed, limiting location tracking.

A plan was also introduced to improve staffing so that at least two people, not one, handle nighttime and holiday missing-person cases. Because increasing personnel requires consultation with related ministries and time to deploy to the field, two officers will first respond to missing cases at night and on holidays in coordination with the violent crimes team, and the violent crimes team leader will oversee and supervise.

They are also reviewing a plan to consolidate missing-person policy and search/investigative work under the National Office of Investigation (NOI). Currently, search and investigations fall under the Criminal Affairs Bureau, while systems and policy are under the Community Safety and Traffic Bureau, making an organic and comprehensive response difficult.

Acting Commissioner Kim said, "Above all, we must examine and fix where the gaps are through the eyes of missing persons and their families," and directed, "Because it is also important to have a mechanism to verify whether policy is properly implemented in the field, prepare measures that are effective on the ground."

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