Officer Behind 'False Closure' Arrested -- Same Pattern Found in Another Case

[26.08.22] Officer Behind 'False Closure' Arrested -- Same Pattern Found in Another Case

The officer accused of falsely closing the missing-person report for Jang Mi-ran (37) in Jeju was placed under emergency arrest on August 22. During the investigation, it emerged that the same officer had falsely closed a separate missing-person case using the same method, while a rumor that Jang's body had been found, which had spread online, was confirmed to be false. In response to the case, the National Police Agency plans to introduce a two-step approval system for closing missing-person cases.

1. Officer A's Emergency Arrest -- Three Charges Including Dereliction of Duty

The Jeju Police Agency announced that at around 3:29 p.m. on August 22, it placed Officer A, a sergeant with Jeju Seobu Police Station, under emergency arrest at a location in Jeju City on charges of dereliction of duty, forging and using official electronic records, and obstruction of official duties by deceptive means. Officer A had already been under investigation, without detention, on a dereliction-of-duty charge related to the Jang case; police moved to take him into custody after additional signs of false closure surfaced in a separate missing-person case.

Police had been conducting a full review of every missing-person case Officer A had handled, out of concern that there could be other cases closed through false reporting, similar to the Jang case. That review confirmed that another missing-person case Officer A closed on July 2 had also been falsely closed in a manner similar to Jang's case. Police are now examining all of the missing-person work Officer A handled to check for any further problems beyond these two cases.

Before this arrest, Officer A had already been suspended from duty over a separate allegation -- entering the women's restroom at the police station where he works on the 22nd of last month. His latest arrest has further widened the scope of the controversy surrounding him.

This has moved well beyond a simple case of poor handling… The addition of a charge equivalent to forging official documents has significantly raised the stakes of the case.

2. Closed in 2 Hours and 30 Minutes -- "Contact Made" Despite No Call Record

Jang left her home in Hallim-eup, Jeju City, alone, taking only her phone, sometime between the night of May 12 and the early morning of May 13, and has not been seen since. Her live-in boyfriend filed the first 112 missing-person report at around 6:43 p.m. on May 15. Officers from the local substation met with him directly and searched the area around Hallim Port and nearby lodging facilities based on the location data from Jang's phone. Her phone was still on at the time; according to communication records, it was switched off for good near Hallim Port on the morning of the 16th, the following day.

But the search ended within a few hours. Officer A, on night duty at the time, entered a note into the 112 processing system at around 9:16 p.m. -- roughly two and a half hours after the report was filed -- stating that "contact had been made" with Jang, and closed the case. Officers who were still out searching pulled back, believing the case had been resolved, and Jang's family was told that she was safe and simply did not want her boyfriend to know her location.

An analysis of Jang's phone records, however, found no record whatsoever of a call with Officer A or any other police officer between the time she left home and the time her phone was switched off. Despite this, Officer A has reportedly maintained throughout the investigation that he did speak with Jang and closed the case appropriately. Even if his account were true, a procedural problem would remain: under the police's missing-person investigation manual, an officer closing a case is required, in principle, to confirm the person's safety in person. Officer A never met Jang face to face.

Officers withdrawn, a family reassured, a search halted… A decision made two and a half hours after the report led to more than two months of investigative silence that followed.

3. Deleted System Records -- Allegations of a Falsified "Deceased" Entry

Investigators found that when Officer A closed the 112 report, he also deleted Jang's file from the police's internal Missing Person Profiling System. This system manages report and discovery information for missing children and adult runaways, and supports search operations; it allows officers to check a missing person's past reports, discovery history, closure reasons, and actions taken.

It was initially believed that Jang's information had never been registered in the system at all. Further investigation, however, found that her file had in fact been entered into the system once, then deleted when the case was closed. There are also allegations that Officer A may have entered a false reason -- such as "deceased" -- in order to remove Jang's case from the list. Police are investigating the full circumstances of how the records were entered and deleted.

This handling of the system record is also believed to have blocked Jang's second missing-person report from going through properly. According to her family, when Jang still had not returned, her boyfriend tried to file another report with police on July 17. But because the earlier record stated that "Jang did not want her location known," the family says the new report was not properly processed. It was only two days later, on July 19, that a relative of Jang's in Seoul filed another missing-person report, finally putting the case back under active investigation -- more than two months after the original report.

A single officer able to both register and remove a case from the system on his own… In response, the National Police Agency plans to introduce a two-step approval process requiring a supervisor's sign-off.

4. The Cost of a Two-Month Gap -- Lost CCTV Footage and a Belated Large-Scale Search

The nearly two-month gap in the investigation proved devastating. By the time police reopened the case, much of the surrounding CCTV footage that could have helped reconstruct Jang's movements had already been deleted after its retention period expired. Key evidence that could have shown who she met or what transportation she used along her final route was gone.

Police only began a large-scale search belatedly. On August 20, they mobilized around 140 personnel from police, the military, and civilian volunteers, and on the 22nd, added personnel from Jeju Seobu Police Station to intensively search Hallim Port, the area around where Jang had been staying, and nearby streams and brush. Cadaver dogs, helicopters, drones, divers, and patrol boats have also been deployed, with plans to expand the search to coastal areas across all of Jeju on August 25-26. As of August 22, however, no clear clues to Jang's whereabouts have been found.

Jang's family says the officer's false closure allowed the case to drag on unnecessarily. "Based on what police told us back in May, we thought Jang was safe and simply needed some time alone to sort out personal matters, so we felt relieved," the family said. "But three months later, she is still missing."

CCTV footage that can never be recovered, a nationwide search launched far too late… The failure of the initial response has made the investigation dramatically harder.

5. Rumor of a "Body Found" Confirmed False -- Police Say Search Continues

Separately, a rumor that Jang's body had been found spread online and through other channels on August 22, but this was confirmed to be false. Claims that "skeletal remains had been found," or that Jang's ID and other belongings had been discovered alongside a body, were likewise found to have no basis in fact. The baseless rumor appears to have added further distress for a family already under enormous strain.

Police said that, separate from Officer A's arrest, the search for Jang and the broader investigation are continuing. Under the current Missing Person Profiling System, an officer can close a case directly within the system, meaning there is no built-in safeguard to immediately catch a false entry or an arbitrary closure. Going forward, the National Police Agency plans to introduce a two-step process requiring a team leader or division chief to review the reason for closure and the entered details before granting final approval.

A baseless "body found" rumor added a second layer of confusion… Police are urging caution against unverified information circulating online.

Category	Details
Emergency Arrest	Aug. 22, 3:29 p.m. -- Officer A arrested on charges of dereliction of duty, forging/using official electronic records, and obstruction of official duties
Second Case Confirmed	A separate missing-person case closed on July 2 also found to have been falsely closed using the same method
Closure Timing	Case closed at 9:16 p.m., about 2.5 hours after the initial report at 6:43 p.m. on May 15
System Deletion Allegation	Record entered then deleted from the Missing Person Profiling System; possible false "deceased" entry
Second Report Delayed	Attempted report on July 17 blocked; relative's report on July 19 restarted the investigation
Search Effort	~140 personnel, helicopters, drones, divers deployed; search to expand to all of Jeju's coastline on Aug. 25-26
Rumor Debunked	"Body found" rumor that spread online on Aug. 22 confirmed to be false
System Reform	National Police Agency to introduce two-step supervisor approval for closing missing-person cases

[Summary] 5 Key Facts on the Jeju Missing Person Case Update

• 1. Officer A's emergency arrest: Three charges were applied -- dereliction of duty, forging/using official electronic records, and obstruction of official duties.
• 2. Same pattern in another case: A separate missing-person case Officer A closed on July 2 was also confirmed to have been falsely closed.
• 3. Allegations of deleted system records: Jang's file was registered, then deleted, from the profiling system, with possible false entries involved.
• 4. The cost of a two-month gap: Lost CCTV footage made the investigation harder, and a large-scale search only began belatedly.
• 5. "Body found" rumor was false: An online rumor of a body being discovered was confirmed untrue, and the search continues.

Related tags: Jeju missing person, Jang Mi-ran, officer arrested, dereliction of duty, falsifying official electronic records, missing person profiling system, Hallim Port, Jeju Seobu Police Station