Jeju missing person cases have intensified doubts over police readiness to handle sole investigative power as authorities investigate premature closures and public trust weakens. President Lee Jae Myung ordered a government body for police reform after a body believed to be Jang Mi-ran was found. The controversy has also renewed criticism of the revision that strips prosecutors of supplementary investigation powers and leaves police in charge of routine criminal cases.
Police conduct a forensic examination after finding the body of Jang Mi-ran, who had been missing for several months, at a palm farm on Jeju Island, Monday. Yonhap
Distrust of police is deepening over the premature closure of multiple missing person cases on Jeju Island, raising questions about the force's readiness to take full control of criminal investigations.
President Lee Jae Myung ordered the creation of a government body in charge of measures to reform the police on Tuesday, a day after police found a body believed to be Jang Mi-ran, a 37-year-old woman missing for months.
The case sparked controversy after it emerged that a police officer had closed it without confirming her whereabouts. Police said Tuesday they had removed all four officers in the chain of command at Jeju Seobu Police Station from their duties pending an investigation.
