Jeju Officer Falsely Closed Missing Person Cases Because He 'Feared His False Closure Would Be Found'

A Jeju police officer has been sent to prosecutors in custody after admitting he falsely closed missing person cases, including two involving people later found dead, because he feared his false closure would be found.

The officer, surnamed Bu, handled 298 missing person reports on the holiday island between March 2025 and July 2026, and a police review has now uncovered 25 additional cases involving suspected false closures or records.

All 25 people were confirmed safe, but the scandal has shaken public trust in how missing person investigations are managed on Jeju.

The news came after the family of Jang Mi-ran, 37, reported her disappearance again on 19 July. Jang was first reported missing on 15 May, but Bu closed the case after falsely stating he had contacted her and that she did not want her location disclosed.

Investigators found no record of such contact. Police said Bu later recorded Jang as having died in a traffic accident to remove the case from the system's active management list. He told investigators that he feared his false closure would otherwise be discovered.

Jang was found dead on 24 August at a palm farm in Hallim-eup, western Jeju City, more than three months after she was reported missing.

Heavy Workload and False Closure of Missing Person Cases

Bu said he had been complacent because the missing people were ordinary adults and that he falsely closed the cases because he felt burdened by the work involved in handling cases that remained open, a Jeju police official said during a briefing on Tuesday.

Five police profilers who interviewed Bu concluded that his accumulated workload and responsibilities had contributed to fatigue and neglect. They also cited what they described as his avoidant and irresponsible approach to his duties.

Police said they found no personal grievances or other external factors that appeared to have motivated his actions.

Police records show that Bu closed 298 missing person cases while working on the investigation team from 10 March 2025 to 23 July this year, a period of about 16 months. That accounted for about 11 per cent of all missing person reports filed in Jeju during the period.

His recorded closures were roughly three times the simple per-officer average, although some cases were handled jointly before Bu closed them in the system. It is, frankly, a wild figure for one officer to move through that quickly.

The other case involved a man in his 60s who was reported missing on 2 July. He was found dead on 22 August after police resumed searching for him. Bu had also falsely claimed to have contacted the man.

Four officials in the chain of command were relieved of duty after it emerged that Bu had recorded Jang in a computer system as a 'traffic accident casualty'. There was no evidence that Jang had been in a traffic accident.

Review Uncovers 25 More False Closure of Missing Person Cases

Police expanded their review to all 298 cases closed by Bu and identified 10 in which he ended missing person investigations without contacting the people reported missing or confirming their safety. All 10 were later contacted by investigators and confirmed to be safe.

Police found another 15 cases in which the missing people had been located safely, but Bu allegedly entered false reasons for closing their cases in the profiling system. All 15 were alive, but their cases were recorded as having ended in deaths caused by traffic crashes, homicide or other circumstances.

Police are separately examining 63 reports that were either removed from the profiling system shortly after being entered or never entered into it.

Such handling can occur when a report is made by mistake or a missing person is found shortly afterward. Police have not concluded that all 63 cases were improperly handled.

The Jeju District Prosecutors' Office has formed a dedicated team to handle the investigation. Police referred Bu on charges of falsifying and using official electronic records, obstructing official duties through fraudulent means and dereliction of duty.

Nothing is confirmed yet so everything should be taken with a grain of salt regarding the 63 reports under separate examination. IBTimes UK cannot independently verify these claims, so take everything lightly.