Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the main opposition People Power Party, visited the site in Jeju on the 28th where police falsely closed a missing-person report, and criticized what the party calls a gap in public safety created by the ruling bloc's abolition of prosecutors' supplementary investigation powers. The Democratic Party of Korea also sent lawmakers from its police reform task force to the island and said it would revise the police manual for handling missing-person cases.
Jang visited the site where a person surnamed Jang, the subject of the falsely closed missing-person report, was found dead, immediately after wrapping up a two-day party retreat for lawmakers. The visit was part of the harder line against the government that Jang had emphasized at the retreat.
Walking through the Hallim-eup area of Jeju, where police tape had been set up, Jang criticized the initial police response. "If the search had continued, any possible link to a crime could have been ruled out," he said. "Even if it was a suicide, it would have been far easier to establish the cause."
Jang said the possibility of criminal involvement must not be dismissed, and raised the issue of undocumented foreign residents in Jeju. "Jeju has the highest number of crimes per 100,000 people, and 85% of its 10,700 undocumented residents are Chinese nationals," he said. "Rather than concluding that this was a suicide, we should not move on until the public's doubts are fully resolved."
Jang linked the falsely closed report to the abolition of supplementary investigation powers, directing criticism at the Lee Jae-myung administration and the Democratic Party. "We cannot help but share the public's concern and anger over the situation created by the removal of these investigative powers," he said. "If we raise questions about the police in cases like this, they will say they lack manpower. But with supplementary investigation powers gone, police will now have to take on all the cases prosecutors handled as well. How will they manage that? The harm will fall on the public."
Chun Ha-ram, floor leader of the Reform Party, also visited the site that morning and met Ko Pyung-ki, commissioner of the Jeju Police Agency. "Mandatory referral of all cases should be restored so that every case is reviewed, and prosecutors should retain supplementary investigation powers," Chun said.
As the opposition kept up its offensive over the abolition of supplementary investigation powers, which the ruling bloc had led, Democratic Party lawmakers from the police reform task force also traveled to Jeju.
Kim Nam-hee, a Democratic Party lawmaker, inspected the site where the body was found and then visited the Jeju Police Agency. "This case should not be seen as the misconduct of a single officer," Kim said. "Under the rules, closing a case requires reporting to superiors, yet there is a loophole in the system that allowed a false closure to go through." Kim pledged institutional improvements. Kim Young-jin, chairman of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, added, "We will establish the facts not only in Jeju but in missing-person cases nationwide, and the National Assembly will do everything it can to ensure legal stability so that this never happens again."
