Yun Ho-jung Says He Is Sorry to the Public Over Jeju Missing Person Case, Orders Nationwide Review of Long-Term Missing Cases

[Financial News] Yun Ho-jung, Minister of the Interior and Safety, said on the 26th that the government will conduct a nationwide inspection of long-term missing person cases and fully review the missing-person response system, while also overhauling police investigation procedures ahead of the criminal justice system reform in October to prevent case cover-ups and favoritism. Yun said he takes the recent string of misconduct and discipline problems among police officers "very seriously" and apologized to the public together with police leadership.
At the emergency police leadership meeting that day, Yun discussed the facts behind the Jeju missing person case, measures to prevent a recurrence, and plans to reform police investigations.
Yun said, "Not long ago, something unacceptable happened in Jeju." He added, "The officer in charge of the missing person case at the police station falsely informed the family and closed the case, but the truth came out after a second report, and the missing person was eventually found dead." He continued, "During the search for the missing person, another body was also discovered, and the public is viewing this with shock." He also said, "Not long after a police corruption case in Gwangju, another case of misconduct and lax discipline among police officers has emerged, causing deep concern in our society."
Yun instructed officials to thoroughly determine the motive and circumstances of the Jeju case and to examine whether it was linked to more serious misconduct, including the concealment of other cases.
He also ordered a full inspection of all cases handled by the officer in charge, as well as long-term missing person cases at police stations nationwide. Yun said, "If any misconduct or inappropriate handling of duties is uncovered in the process, accountability must be imposed strictly."
The ministry will also take another look at the missing-person response system. Yun said, "This case was not only the result of one individual's deviation, but also exposed structural flaws in the missing-person response system." He added, "Improving the missing-person profiling system is important, but what matters more is a deep review of the overall workflow."
He then urged police leadership to review the current missing-person system again and come up with improvement measures.
The review will be expanded to police operations as a whole. Yun pointed out that there may be structural flaws in areas that directly affect the public, such as public safety, protection of vulnerable groups, and traffic enforcement, which fail to prevent individual misconduct.
He told police leadership to comprehensively review their respective areas of responsibility and push ahead quickly with improvements. If there are legal or institutional shortcomings, he said, consultations with the National Assembly and relevant ministries should also be expedited.
The meeting also discussed broader police reform measures, including steps to block unfair investigations and prevent sloppy investigations.
Yun said, "The police reform measures being prepared by MOIS and the National Police Agency must be completed as soon as possible and reported to the president and the National Assembly." He added, "Ahead of the historic changes to the criminal justice system in October, there must not be even the smallest institutional loophole." He stressed, "With airtight system design, we must make sure that case cover-ups and favoritism have no place to take root."
Yun said, "Under the prosecution reform, the police will now exercise far greater power than before." He added, "Under the new criminal justice system, the police must be reborn as a more capable, cleaner, and more professional force." He continued, "It is extremely difficult to restore trust once it has been lost," and said police leadership must keep that in mind and make the resolve to completely rebuild the organization.
[email protected] Lee Bo-mi Reporter