310,000 Missing Persons Cases with a '99% Closure Rate' to Be Reviewed Again

Cases Suspected of False Closure Will Be Immediately Reinvestigated
Daily Review Meetings to Be Led by Police Station Chiefs

Following the recent false closure case of a missing person in Jeju, the police have launched a comprehensive review of approximately 310,000 missing persons cases that were closed over the past three years. Going forward, it will be prohibited to close a missing persons case based on 'non-face-to-face confirmation' of safety through telephone calls or similar means. If a missing person refuses to meet with officers, the police will seek assistance from fire departments or other agencies to verify their safety in person.

According to police on August 26, the National Police Agency has prepared measures to overhaul the operation of missing persons investigation teams. Among the approximately 310,000 cases closed over the past three years, non-face-to-face closures—considered highly likely to be false closures—are being identified for a renewed review of the missing person’s safety and the appropriateness of case handling. If, during this process, any cases are found to have been handled poorly or inappropriately, they will be immediately reopened for investigation and reported to the relevant provincial or metropolitan police agency.

Corporal A of the Missing Persons Team at Jeju Western Police Station, accused of falsely closing a missing person case, is seen leaving the Jeju District Court on the 25th after completing a detention hearing. Photo by Yonhap News

The police acknowledged that in the previous handling of missing persons cases, there was a continued practice of closing cases after confirming safety via non-face-to-face methods such as telephone calls. They also noted that, due to the high closure rate, some cases were simply classified as runaways or presumed unreturned. The closure rate for missing persons cases filed in the Missing Person Profiling System from 2023 to 2025 exceeded 99% each year.

The police are strengthening the case closure procedures to prevent a repeat of incidents like the one involving Officer A of the Missing Persons Team at Jeju West Police Station, who arbitrarily closed cases—including that of Jang Miran (age 37)—without verifying their safety, resulting in search operations being halted and ultimately bodies being found. In principle, any non-face-to-face confirmation of a missing person’s safety—such as via telephone—will be strictly prohibited as a method for closing cases. If it is difficult for the officer in charge to meet the missing person in person due to the person being far away, a police station with jurisdiction over the current or presumed location of the missing individual must conduct a face-to-face check and report the result.

A managerial approval process, such as requiring the head of the criminal division to approve closures, will be introduced. The head of the criminal division must review whether a face-to-face meeting occurred via the Missing Person Profiling System, confirm how the person’s identity was verified, and check for objective evidence of their safety before approving case closure. This process will first be added in writing and the system will be upgraded next month to support it.

The police will also consider implementing an automatic notification system to inform the reporting party by text message at each stage of the case—filing, progress, and closure. Furthermore, to strengthen daily oversight, all missing person reports received the previous day will be reviewed each day at a meeting led by the police station chief. Both the police station chief and the head of the criminal division will be required to personally assess the appropriateness of case closures on a daily basis, based on whether a face-to-face meeting occurred, the reasons for any non-face-to-face handling, and whether safety was confirmed by alternative methods.

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