Jeju police officer says he falsely closed missing persons cases to avoid extra workload

A South Korean police officer, who was implicated after four people reported missing ​in Jeju, South Korea, were found dead over three days, has admitted to closing the missing persons cases prematurely to avoid the extra workload of keeping cases open.

According to local news agency Yonhap News Agency, this was announced by the Jeju Provincial Police Agency on Sep. 1.

The officer has since been referred to prosecutors on charges including dereliction of duty and forgery.

The case came to light after four people who had previously been reported missing were found dead on the island over three days between Aug. 22 and Aug. 24.

The four cases are reportedly unrelated.

Closed case without confirming the woman's whereabouts

According to The Korea Times, the officer had allegedly closed the case involving 37-year-old Jang Mi Ran, who had been missing for months, without confirming her whereabouts.

He is also accused of deleting her information from the police's missing persons profiling system.

Jang's body was later found at a palm tree farm near her home on Aug. 24, 104 days after she was reported missing.

Initially, police said the position of her body suggested that she had died by hanging.

However, they later said the exact cause of death could not be determined because of the extent of decomposition.

The officer admitted that he had been complacent as the missing person was an ordinary adult, Yonhap reported.

He also admitted that he falsely closed the case because he wanted to avoid the burden of handing it over, citing the amount of work involved if a missing persons case remained open.

The officer had also been accused of similarly closing another missing persons case prematurely without confirming the person's whereabouts in July 2026, The Korea Times reported.

The man, who was in his 60s, was later found dead, 51 days after he was reported missing.

Four bodies found in three days

The man in his 60s was the first of four people reported missing whose bodies were found in Jeju over three days.

His body was found in Songdang-ri, Gujwa-eup, Jeju City, on Aug. 22.

The following day, at around 3pm, a man believed to be in his 70s was found dead in waters near Sinheung-ri, Jocheon-eup, Jeju City.

A person who was fishing discovered the body and alerted the authorities.

The Jeju Coast Guard later confirmed that the man had been reported missing to the Jeju Dongbu Police precinct a day earlier.

On Aug. 24, a third missing person was found dead near a valley in Aewol-eup, Jeju City, at around 9:35am.

Jang's body was found later that day.

On Aug. 25, the police said they had removed four officers in the chain of command at Jeju Seobu Police Station from their duties pending an investigation.

They are also conducting a full investigation into 298 cases closed by the police officer involved since March 2025.