'Internal checks not working,' lawmaker says

A screen blocks off the site at a palm farm in Hallim-eup, Jeju, where the body of long-missing Jang Mi-ran was found Wednesday, amid growing criticism over police falsely closing missing-person reports. [Yonhap]
A screen blocks off the site at a palm farm in Hallim-eup, Jeju, where the body of long-missing Jang Mi-ran was found Wednesday, amid growing criticism over police falsely closing missing-person reports. [Yonhap]

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon said Friday that no matter how many reporting layers police add, false closures of missing-person cases will keep happening.

"Internal checks and oversight within the police are not functioning," Han said. "At a time when even supplementary investigations are being blocked — stripping away external oversight as well — public safety cannot be left solely to the internal judgment of police."

According to data Han obtained from the Jeju Provincial Police Agency, a missing-person case involving a man in his 60s that was falsely closed was formally signed off by a superior in the police 112 system at around 11:38 p.m. on July 2 — roughly five and a half hours after the initial report was filed.

A timeline of the case shows that after the report came in at 6:02 p.m. on July 2 via the 112 emergency line, it was marked as "released" in the profiling system under the account of Officer A, a senior constable, at 11:22 p.m. The case was then formally closed at 11:38 p.m. following approval by a superior in the 112 system. The missing person's body was found more than 50 days after the report was filed.

The timeline contradicts earlier statements by acting Korean National Police Agency Commissioner Yoo Jae-seong and other senior officials, who said Officer A closed the case unilaterally and that superiors — including the team leader and section chief — had not signed off on it.

It was also confirmed that when closing the case, Officer A entered false information stating that the missing person had been reached through an alternative contact, that the person had strongly refused to meet with police, and that the person said they would return home later.


20ki@heraldcorp.com