South Korean police have found no cases of improperly closed files so far in a review of about 310,000 missing-person reports filed over the past three years, the agency said. The review is set to be completed by November.
Kim Jong-chul, acting commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, said at a regular briefing at the agency's headquarters in Seoul's Seodaemun district on the 14th that officers had checked more than 128,000 cases as of last week. "So far we have confirmed that there are no grounds for concern such as improper closures," Kim said.
In the case of a woman in her 30s who was found dead in Jeju after being missing for an extended period, forensic tests by the National Forensic Service turned up no new findings on the cause of death.
Kim said police are continuing the investigation with all possibilities open.
The agency is also pushing an organizational overhaul that would consolidate missing-person work under its Criminal Investigation Bureau. "Until now, policy matters were handled by the women and juveniles division while searches and investigations were handled by criminal investigators, so even though both are within the same agency, it was hard to say there were no barriers between them," Kim said. "We plan to consolidate missing-person work under the Criminal Investigation Bureau."
Police will also strengthen the investigative framework for long-term missing-person cases. "To improve the thoroughness of missing-person investigations, we plan to set up and operate dedicated units at the National Investigation Headquarters and at metropolitan and provincial police agencies to handle long-term missing-person investigations exclusively," Kim said.
