South Korean police officer admits to faking closure of missing persons cases

A police officer in Jeju, South Korea, has confessed to fabricating the closure of two missing persons cases, admitting he did not contact the individuals as he had previously claimed. The Jeju Provincial Police Agency revealed on August 28 that the officer, identified as Bu, acknowledged that his assertions of speaking with the missing persons were false.

Bu had initially maintained that he had spoken with the missing individuals. However, under pressure from evidence presented by the police, including call records, he admitted the truth. This admission came after the police presented proof that contradicted his earlier statements.

In one case on May 15, Bu closed the missing person report for a 37-year-old man named Jang approximately two and a half hours after the report was filed. He claimed to have contacted Jang, who allegedly asked not to have his location revealed. However, no call records to support this claim were found. Furthermore, the system used for missing person profiling indicated that Jang had died in a traffic accident at the time the case was closed.

In another instance on July 2, Bu is accused of arbitrarily closing the missing person report for a man in his 60s just five hours after it was filed. He reportedly informed the man's family that he had made contact and that the individual did not wish to reveal his location. Again, no call records were available. The man was later found dead on August 22.

The police are now deploying profilers and conducting forensic analysis to understand Bu's motives and the full circumstances surrounding his actions. The investigation aims to uncover the reasons behind the alleged falsification of case closures and the potential impact on the investigations into the missing persons.

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Bu admitted that it is not true that he had phone calls with Jang Mo-ssi and the man in his 60s.