Unfounded rumors and online hostility toward Jeju are spreading after a string of missing persons were found dead on the island and a police officer was found to have falsely closed missing persons reports.
Jeju Provincial Police Agency said on the 8th that content exaggerating concerns about public safety on the island has circulated online and in some news reports. One widely shared account claims a woman took a taxi before dawn, fell asleep and woke up in a reed field.
Some news outlets reported the account by citing a YouTube video. In the video, the YouTuber said he had heard from an acquaintance that a woman used a taxi in the early morning hours, fell asleep and woke up in a reed field. The video also said she pushed through the reeds to escape and then called police.
But after checking 112 emergency call records and the Korea Information System of Criminal Justice Services, known as KICS, police said no report matching the account in the video has been identified.
Police said other cases mentioned in the video either occurred a decade ago or could not be verified. Residents near the Musucheon area of Aewol-eup in Jeju City, described in the video as an area with many reed fields, also said the description does not match conditions on the ground.
Residents said silver grass grows sparsely in parts of the mountainous Musucheon area but that there are no reeds, and that they had never heard of a reed field there thick enough for a person to push through.
"The report does not specify when or where this happened, so it could be mistaken for one of the recent cases in Jeju," a police official said. "There is a risk it will deepen anxiety among residents."
Anxiety After Disappearances Spills Into Abuse of Residents and YouTubers
Baseless criticism of Jeju has escalated into online hostility toward the island. YouTube channels run by residents that introduce Jeju travel and culture have drawn comments such as "You bear some responsibility for encouraging people to visit Jeju, so apologize" and "Why are you promoting a dangerous Jeju?"
Other posts have attacked the island by combining the tangerine, a Jeju symbol, with the name of a particular country, or spread hostility by linking Jeju to nationals of countries that send many tourists there.
Mworaenghaman, a YouTuber based in Jeju, also said he had been targeted by abusive comments. In a video titled "On Recent Events," posted to his channel on the 28th of last month, he said he appeared to have received more than 1,000 malicious comments and showed some of them.
The comments included "Does this guy have a criminal record too," "Is this jerk Jeju's publicity ambassador" and "Stop promoting dangerous Jeju."
Mworaenghaman noted that Jeju was once called "Sammudo," an island said to be without beggars, thieves or front gates, and said he had thought of Jeju as a safe and peaceful island since childhood. He said that as a Jeju resident he was also worried about the recent cases and that the questions surrounding them should be properly answered.
Still, he asked viewers to refrain from abusive comments. "I am someone who lives in Jeju. My family is here, and the people I love live here," he said. "If things like this keep happening in Jeju, aren't the ones who will worry me and other residents of Jeju?"
"I am not taking anyone's side," he added. "I only hope the questions many people have are cleared up completely so the island can return to being peaceful."
Jang Mi-ran, who had been reported missing in Jeju, was found dead, and three more missing people were later found dead. During that period, a police sergeant in his 30s at Jeju Western Police Station, identified only as A, was found to have falsely closed the missing persons reports for Jang and others. Prosecutors have searched the National Police Agency headquarters, the Jeju Provincial Police Agency and Jeju Western Police Station as part of an investigation into how the sergeant handled the cases.
With anxiety over the actual cases growing, the rapid online spread of unverified claims has raised concerns that Jeju residents and the local tourism industry could suffer further harm.
Ko Sung-man, a sociology professor at Jeju National University, said growing anxiety was a natural response to the false closure of the missing persons reports, and that the police's lax handling had made many residents more uneasy.
"Indiscriminate speculation does nothing to help resolve the case and can lead to hatred and stigma directed at specific individuals or groups," Ko said. "We must make sure that baseless conjecture spreading online does not create second and third victims."
