[Gangnam Perspective] Do You Know Missing Children's Day?

May is known as Family Month in Korea. Children's Day falls on the 5th, Parents' Day on the 8th, Teacher's Day on the 15th, and Husband and Wife's Day on the 21st. Children's Day honors the dignity of children, while Parents' Day was created to express gratitude to parents. Teacher's Day recognizes teachers and respect for the teaching profession, and Husband and Wife's Day is a day to reflect on family-centered marital relationships. For that reason, the entire month of May is grouped together as a time to reflect on the value of family, and is called Family Month.
So what day is the 25th? It is unfamiliar to many. It is not listed separately on desk calendars or portal site calendars. This year, it is marked only in red as a substitute holiday for Buddha's Birthday. Yet while people commemorate International Workers' Day on the 1st, Voters' Day on the 10th, Food Safety Day on the 14th, Invention Day on the 19th, the International Day for Biological Diversity on the 22nd, and Sea Day on the 31st, the 25th remains empty.
On May 25, 1979, six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared on his way to school in Manhattan, New York. It was the first day he had gone to the bus stop alone. The case shocked American society and became a turning point in bringing the issue of missing children into public discussion. The United States later designated May 25 as Missing Children's Day in 1983. Korea has also marked the day every year since 2007.
This year marks the 20th Missing Children's Day in Korea. Over the years, the investigation system for missing children has improved significantly. But the reality remains that many children still have not returned to their families. According to data this newspaper received from the Korean National Police Agency, there were 1,690 unresolved missing-person reports as of April. Of those, 1,566 cases had been missing for more than a year. There were also 1,293 cases in which family members had not returned home for more than 20 years. That means there are as many families living in pain for at least a year, and in some cases for decades, as these figures suggest.
The issue of missing children cannot be solved simply because the investigative system has become more advanced. In fact, public attention is often the key clue in missing-person cases. The older the case, the fewer the people who remember it, and the less likely new tips are to emerge. That is why attention is most important at the beginning. This is also why Missing Children's Day was created.
Public awareness, however, remains low. Many people know about Coming-of-Age Day on the 18th, but far fewer know that Missing Children's Day exists. Compared with the days when posters searching for missing children were once posted across the country, there are now very few opportunities to encounter this issue in daily life. There are also no official statistics or opinion polls showing public awareness of the day.
Families of missing persons say the related support system is inadequate. They point out that there are not enough dedicated investigators and staff, and that support measures for families have remained largely unchanged for years. The specialized personnel assigned to long-term missing person cases at each provincial police agency are not sufficient to handle difficult cases. Long-term cases are also hard to resolve quickly, so they are not especially popular within the police force.
Support for families also falls short of reality. Medical expenses for families of missing children, provided by the National Center for the Rights of the Child, amount to only 1.5 million won per household per year. That is far from enough, given the emotional and physical exhaustion these families endure over long periods of uncertainty. In many cases, people do not even apply because they are unaware the program exists.
The reason May is called Family Month is clear: it is meant to remind people of the meaning of family. In that same spirit, the 25th should also be viewed in that context. A disappearance is not something only one family can face; it can happen to anyone. This is not an argument for loud commemorations. Rather, it is a call to examine whether the investigative system for long-term missing person cases is sufficient, whether family support matches real-world needs, and whether there are mechanisms to keep old cases in the public eye. Above all, public attention is essential from the very beginning. It is hard to simply overlook the number of missing children who have not returned home for more than 20 years.
jjw@fnnews.com Reporter