The "false closure of a missing-person case" in Jeju is moving from police to prosecutors. Attention is turning to whether prosecutors will uncover in detail the motive of the officer surnamed Boo, who is accused of falsely closing a missing-person report on Jang Mi-ran, 37, who was later found dead.
According to reporting by Seoul Economic Daily on the 1st, police are transferring the case to the Jeju District Prosecutors' Office on the same day. Boo, an assistant inspector in his 30s attached to the Jeju Western Police Station, has been detained on charges of dereliction of duty, forgery and use of official electronic records, and obstruction of official duties by deception.
No other police officers have been booked in connection with the case, officials confirmed. Police are, however, conducting internal inspections into whether procedures were handled properly, targeting not only Boo but also the supervisor who approved the false report and the fellow officer who responded to the scene with him at the time.
Police also plan to announce on the same day the results of a full review of all 298 missing-person cases Boo has handled. The Jeju Police Agency earlier assembled an investigation team of about 20 officers to examine whether there were additional cases of false or inadequate closures among the cases he was assigned.
Particular attention is focused on whether the announcement will disclose in detail Boo's motive for falsely closing the missing-person report on Jang. Hong Seok-ki, head of the National Office of Investigation at the Korean National Police Agency, told a regular press briefing at the agency's headquarters in Seodaemun District, Seoul, on the 31st of last month: "There are some things he himself has said regarding the motive." He added, "We are checking whether the facts are accurate, and I will explain in detail at the briefing on the 1st."
Boo had maintained that he was in direct contact with Jang, but in recent questioning he is said to have admitted to some of the allegations, stating in effect that "my earlier statement that I had spoken with Jang by phone was false."
Police have also grown more cautious than they were initially about the cause of Jang's death. Immediately after her body was found, police leaned toward the view that homicide was unlikely. But Hong said, "The cause of death has been determined to be undetermined because of decomposition of the body," adding, "We are investigating with all possibilities open."
As distrust of police investigations and internal controls has grown in the wake of the case, some are calling for stronger external checks on the police organization.
Yoo Seung-ik, a law professor at Myongji University, proposed breaking the police organization's "purebloodism" and expanding the participation of outsiders, speaking at a policy debate on democratic control of the police and reform of police investigations, held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul, on the 31st of last month.
"The powerlessness of the current National Police Commission, the paternalism of internal police inspections, and the closed, purebloodism-driven appointment practices at the top of the command chain are the core causes fueling concerns about abuse of police power and human rights violations," the professor said. "Rebuilding governance to democratically control police power and improve transparency in public safety administration is urgently needed."
