Emergency Meeting Convened by Minister of the Interior Amid Jeju Missing Person Case Controversy: “Comprehensive Review of All Long-Term Missing Cases Nationwide”

"We Must Prevent Concealment of Cases and Collusion Among Officers"

Yoon Hojung, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, has directed the police to conduct a comprehensive review of long-term missing person cases at all police stations nationwide and to re-examine the entire system for handling missing person cases in connection with the false closure of the Jeju missing person case.

Yun Hojung, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, is apologizing to the public along with attendees including Yoo Jaeseong, Acting Commissioner of the National Police Agency, and Hong Seokgi, Head of the National Investigation Headquarters, regarding the false closure of the Jeju missing person case during a police leadership meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 26th. [Joint coverage] Yonhap News Agency

On the 26th, at Government Complex Seoul, Minister Yoon convened an "emergency police leadership meeting" and stated, "As the Minister responsible for the safety of the people, I take police misconduct very seriously," adding, "Together with the police leadership, I sincerely offer my deepest apologies to the public."

Regarding the Jeju case, Minister Yoon stressed, "We must thoroughly investigate the motives and background, and carefully examine whether this is related to more serious misconduct, such as the concealment of other incidents."

He further instructed that not only should all cases handled by the police officer in question be reviewed, but a nationwide review of all long-term missing person cases at every police station must be conducted as well. He emphasized that if any misconduct or inappropriate work behaviors are discovered during this process, strict accountability must be enforced.

Minister Yoon also pointed out problems with the missing person case handling system itself. He said, "This case exposes both individual misconduct and structural flaws within the missing persons work system," ordering a review of not just the missing persons profiling system but the entire work process to prepare improvement measures.

On this day, the National Police Agency reported on measures to improve the missing persons investigation team, system operation, and the process for hiring new police officers. Measures to enhance the fairness of investigations were also discussed, including strengthening the role of the National Police Commission and establishing new human rights and inspection organizations for police investigations.

It is unusual for Minister Yoon to convene an emergency meeting with the police leadership over a particular case. This is seen as a response to heightened concerns over public trust in police investigations, following both the recent Gwangju police corruption case and the controversy surrounding the false closure of the Jeju missing person case.

Mentioning upcoming criminal justice system reforms slated for October, Minister Yoon stressed, "There must not be even the smallest loophole in the system. We must design the system so thoroughly that incidents such as case concealment or collusion among officers cannot occur."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.