Jeju Officer Who Buried Missing-Person Cases Won 10 Commendations

A serving police officer jailed for deliberately covering up missing-person reports had received a commendation from the head of the Korean National Police Agency for helping locate a missing person, a revelation that has drawn public outrage.

Officer A, assigned to the Jeju West Police Station, received the National Police Agency commissioner's commendation on June 26 for locating a missing elderly person with dementia, according to the office of Rep. Park Su-min of the People Power Party on the 26th. The award came little more than a month after he falsely closed the case of a missing woman surnamed Chang.

On May 15, Officer A took a report from Chang's boyfriend, who said she had gone out of her lodging and could not be reached. Barely two and a half hours later, the officer told the person who filed the report that he had contacted Chang directly and confirmed she was safe, and that she did not want her location disclosed. Both statements were false. He then dropped the case and deleted the related records. He also faces allegations that he closed a missing-person report filed on the 2nd of last month involving a man in his 60s using the same method.

The commendation was not his only award. He received a police station chief's commendation in September 2025 for rescuing a person attempting suicide, and a year-end commendation from the head of the Jeju Provincial Police Agency that December. In all, he has collected 10 awards and honors since 2020.

Behind that record of recognition lay serious misconduct. Although the exact timing has not been confirmed, he was previously investigated by internal affairs over a domestic violence case and referred to a disciplinary committee. He is also under separate investigation on suspicion of illegally filming in a women's restroom.

Given that record, critics say his past awards should also be examined for the possibility that they were fabricated or inflated.