Police backtrack after saying foul play was unlikely in missing Jeju woman’s death

Police have changed their position on the death of a woman whose body was found in Jeju, saying decomposition prevents them from determining how she died and that investigators will consider every possibility.

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The cause of death is unclear due to decomposition of the body.

Hong Seok-ki, head of the National Police Agency’s investigative bureau, said at a regular briefing on Aug. 31 that the cause of death had been confirmed as unclear because of the body’s condition. The statement reversed the more confident tone police used when they found the woman’s body on Aug. 24 at a palm farm in Hallim-eup, Jeju City.

At the time, police said the body’s posture and location led them to believe foul play was unlikely. Acting National Police Commissioner Yoo Jae-sung also told a parliamentary committee that a crime had not been ruled out, but said he had been briefed by the Jeju police chief that the woman was presumed to have died by hanging. Police later conducted a reenactment at the palm farm on Aug. 27 as questions over the cause of death continued.

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We are investigating with all possibilities open.

The woman, identified by her surname Jang, had been missing for 104 days before she was found dead. Jeju police are also investigating an officer, identified by the surname Boo, on suspicion of falsely closing missing-person reports. Hong said investigators had completed a full review of the 298 missing-person cases handled by the officer. Jeju police plan to transfer the case to prosecutors on Sept. 1 and brief the public on their findings.

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Based on what I was briefed by the Jeju police chief, she is presumed to have died by hanging.