Police to reexamine 310,000 missing person cases closed in past 3 yrs

Seoul, Aug. 26 - The National Police Agency (NPA) in South Korea is set to launch a thorough investigation into approximately 310,000 missing person cases that were deemed closed within the last three years. This review is prompted by a series of controversies surrounding a missing person case on the southern resort island of Jeju. The NPA aims to overhaul its system of handling such cases, with the review expected to be concluded by November, according to officials quoted by Yonhap News Agency.

The agency plans to identify cases that may have been improperly closed and will verify the safety of the missing persons and the appropriateness of the handling of these cases. Should the review uncover any instances of improper or inadequate handling, the NPA will promptly reopen the investigations and inform the relevant regional authorities.

Furthermore, police agencies at both the provincial and metropolitan levels will conduct weekly reviews of cases closed within their jurisdictions, ordering reinvestigations when deemed necessary.

This initiative follows an incident in which a police officer was accused of closing a missing person case in May without confirming the woman's safety. It was only after her body was discovered after intensive police searches last week that the mistake was realized.