An island popular with holidaymakers has been rocked by the discovery of four dead bodies of missing people – after police lied to relatives about them being alive.
On the small island of Jeju South Koreaknown for its mountains, white sandy beaches and peaceful volcanic landscape, the bodies turned up in just three days.
Last week the body of a missing man in his 60s was found after he was reported missing 51 days earlier. The next day, a man in his 70s was found in the water off the north coast of the island.
Just two days later, two more bodies were found, including 37-year-old Jang Mi-ran, whose body was found on Monday after her boyfriend reported her missing in May.
Authorities on Tuesday arrested the investigator, surnamed Bu, who closed the cases of both Jang and the 60-year-old. He is accused of falsifying documents and neglecting his duties.
Jang’s case attracted national attention after Bu reportedly closed her case prematurely without confirming her whereabouts and falsely recorded her death as a “traffic accident victim.”
Her body was found on a palm tree farm, about 500 meters from where she was staying. According to local reports, she committed suicide.
Bu allegedly told Jang’s friend that he had spoken to her on the phone and that she did not want to talk to her partner.
The dead bodies of four missing people have been found on an island in South Korea. The body of Jang Mi-ran (pictured) was found on Monday after her boyfriend reported her missing in May
Police officers inspect the site where Jang’s body was discovered on a palm tree farm
An investigator surnamed Bu, who closed the cases of both Jang and the 60-year-old, has been accused of falsifying data and neglecting his duties.
The friend tried to report her disappearance again in July, but was denied. It was only when he took it to a police station in Seoul that it was finally picked up.
In the case of the elderly man who went missing in late June, Bu reportedly closed the case and told the family he was safe but that he “did not want to reveal his location to the family.”
The man’s son told reporters: “We believed the police when they said my father was safe and waited, but after 51 days his body came back.”
The causes of death have not been confirmed in any of the cases.
Bu denies the charges against him and insists he contacted the missing people, police said.
Authorities are investigating all 298 cases handled by Bu and investigating 10 for improper closing.
“The arrest warrant against the defendant was issued due to concerns about flight risks and evidence tampering,” Detective Jung Tae-won said at a news conference on Wednesday.
The government set up a task force to “quickly investigate all missing cases handled by the defendant,” he added.
On South Korea’s tiny Jeju Island, known for its mountains, white-sand beaches and peaceful volcanic landscape, four dead bodies have turned up in just three days
The scandal prompted President Lee Jae Myung to order an investigation into the handling of Jang’s case. He instructed his cabinet to present a police reform plan.
“Recently, serious concerns have arisen about lack of discipline within the police force and irresponsibility in maintaining public safety,” Lee said at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
“Please consider how the police should be reformed in the future, including the creation of a body charged with overseeing police reform,” he added.
Police have also launched a comprehensive investigation into all missing persons cases closed in the past three years – about 310,000 cases – in response to the investigation, Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday.
Jeju is one of the most popular tourist hotspots in South Korea and received more than 13 million foreign and domestic visitors last year.
Some experts say the low crime rate may be one reason why missing persons cases are not taken seriously.
‘After experiencing on the field that the absolute majority of missing adults are found quickly, [the officers] tend to assume that all cases are like this,” Lee Yung-hyeock, a professor specializing in police science at Konkuk University, told Yonhap news agency.
More than 70,000 adults are reported missing in South Korea every year and 99 percent of them are resolved within a month.
