South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called for greater police accountability on Tuesday after four people reported missing on Jeju island were found dead over three days through Monday, turning a cluster of unrelated cases into a public scandal over how police handled them.
Lee told a cabinet meeting that police are likely to wield the greatest power among state institutions, and that responsibility must rise with that authority. His remarks came as the public questioned whether the force could bear that responsibility after the handling of the Jeju Island South Korea cases.
One of the dead was Jang Mi-ran, 37, whose body was found Monday, 104 days after she vanished. In another case, a man in his 60s was reported missing again by his family before his body was found. The cases were not linked to one another, but two were allegedly closed by the same officer without confirmation that the missing people were safe, a detail that has sharpened the anger around the case handling.
Authorities said the allegations prompted police to review all 298 missing-person reports handled by the officer, with about 10 reports now being examined for possible improper closure. A court detained the officer Tuesday on suspicion of dereliction of duty, falsifying official electronic records and obstructing official duties. He denied the charges and said he contacted the missing people.
Acting National Police Commissioner Yoo Jae-seong apologized and promised measures to prevent a recurrence, while police ordered supervisory sign-off on missing-person case closures pending an upgrade to the case management system. The move is meant to add a second set of eyes before a file is shut, but it also underscores how far the process had already gone before the Jeju deaths forced a review.
The backlash lands at a delicate moment for South Korean police, which received 70,814 reports of missing adults last year and have handled more than 70,000 such reports annually since 2022, with the vast majority resolved within 30 days. It also arrives after the governing Democratic Party stripped prosecutors of their remaining investigative powers in July, a change due to take effect in October and one that leaves police carrying even more of the burden in criminal investigations. For the families of the missing, the unanswered question is not whether the system will change, but why two cases were closed before anyone had confirmed the people were safe.
