Police to push for legal grounds to track locations of missing adults

SEOUL, September 4 -- Police authorities are planning to seek legal permission to track the locations of adults reported missing, as part of new measures following a high-profile missing person case, according to officials. The National Police Agency aims to establish such provisions to enable them to confirm or track the data of missing adults, similar to the current system for locating missing children.

At present, investigators are barred from tracking the location of mobile devices belonging to adults reported missing unless there are indications of criminal activity, which forces them to assume that those missing may have voluntarily left their homes. Additionally, the agency plans to bolster the management of missing person cases by creating a dedicated organization specifically tasked with overseeing these cases.

The proposed changes come in response to growing calls for improved police handling of missing person cases, following a recent case of public outrage over a missing woman on Jeju, a southern resort island. The incident involved a police officer who prematurely closed the case mere days after the woman was first reported missing in May, without verifying her safety. Her body was discovered weeks later following an extensive police search.