Authorities are pushing a plan to establish a legal basis that would let police check the location data and transit card usage records of adults reported missing. Right now, unless there are signs of a crime such as abduction or confinement, or indications of an accident, adults are classified as "runaways," which limits active police tracking from the outset.
Some expect this could secure the "golden time" in missing-person investigations, but there are also considerable concerns. Ordinary adult missing-person reports number around 70,000 a year, and most are cleared in a short time. Debate is expected over how far police should be allowed to examine adults' location data and how to allocate limited police resources.
◇ Tracking is difficult without criminal suspicion… adult missing-person "blind spots"
According to police and others on the 8th, acting commissioner Kim Jong-chul recently presided over a "review meeting on overhauling missing-person investigations" and decided to push for a plan to establish a legal basis that would let police check the location data and transit card usage records of missing adults.
The catalyst was a case in Jeju where a person surnamed Jang in her 30s was found dead about 100 days after a missing-person report. Separate from allegations that the officer in charge falsely closed the case, the incident put the limits of the current search system for ordinary adult missing persons on the table.
Under the current Missing Children Act, when a child under 18, a person with an intellectual disability, or a patient with dementia goes missing, police can query location data and communications records to track movements. But for ordinary adults 18 and older, access to such information is limited unless criminal suspicion or indications of an accident are confirmed.
Ordinary adults also make up most unresolved missing-person cases. According to Rep. Lim Ho-seon of the Democratic Party of Korea on the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, there were 1,727 unresolved cases among missing-person incidents from 2022 through July this year. Ordinary adults, excluding children, people with disabilities, and dementia patients, accounted for 92.4%.
Four related bills, dubbed the "adult missing-person law," have been introduced in the National Assembly, but all are pending. With police moving to improve the system, legislative discussions could gain speed.
Im Byoung-soo, executive representative of the Korea Detective Federation, said, "Under the current legal framework, there has been a lack of grounds for police to act proactively in adult missing-person cases until clear criminal suspicion was confirmed," and added, "If the law is established, it could fill this gap."
◇ About 70,000 reports a year, 94% cleared within two days… privacy concerns
There is pushback, too. Because a significant number of ordinary adult missing-person cases are cleared in a short time due to return after a loss of contact or after a dispute, it would be excessive to broadly apply location-tracking authority to all cases.
According to Rep. Jeong Chun-saeng of the Rebuilding Korea Party on the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, ordinary adult missing-person reports classified as "runaways" total around 70,000 annually. Last year, about 48% were cleared within an hour of being reported, and 94% were cleared within two days.
There are also concerns about potential abuse. Missing-person reports could be used to locate adults hiding from family or acquaintances to avoid domestic violence or stalking. Since adults, unlike children, have the right not to inform family of their residence or movements, observers say a standard must be set between privacy protection and the need to search.
The police workload is also an issue. If location tracking and movement checks are conducted on all adult missing-person cases from the initial report, there may be a shortage of personnel for cases with a higher likelihood of crime or accident.
◇ U.K. weighs "risk" instead of age… "need selective search criteria"
Overseas, some jurisdictions vary police response levels based on risk rather than the missing person's age.
In the United Kingdom, when a missing-person report is filed, authorities check 19 risk factors, including suicide risk and drug use history, then classify the missing person's risk into three levels and search accordingly. Japan also classifies those at high risk of suicide as "specified missing persons" and conducts active searches.
Experts say that in Korea, rather than uniformly applying tracking authority to all adult missing persons, authorities should vary search intensity after weighing the likelihood of criminal victimization, suicide risk, and health status. They argue detailed risk-based criteria should be established to narrow blind spots in adult missing-person investigations while preventing invasions of privacy and the dispersal of police resources.
Kim Seon-taek, a Korea University law school professor, said, "If the initial search scope is the same for vulnerable groups such as children and older adults with dementia and for ordinary adults, it could create side effects that weaken protection for missing vulnerable people," and added, "Given that police personnel are limited, a more nuanced classification system is needed."