South Korean president orders police reform as fourth body found in Jeju missing persons scandal

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has ordered a sweeping reform of the national police force, after four bodies were found on the holiday island of Jeju since Saturday amid a deepening scandal over falsified missing persons cases.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 25 August 2026, President Lee said the recent breakdown in police discipline and irresponsibility in public safety matters had become serious problems. He said the public was questioning whether the police, which he described as likely to wield the most power of all the state's institutions, deserved that scale of authority.

The remarks followed the discovery on Monday of the body of Jang Mi-ran, 37, at a palm tree farm approximately 500 metres from where she had been staying, three months after she was reported missing. Police believe she died by suicide.

Sergeant faces charges over two cases

A police sergeant, surnamed Bu, has been arrested on charges including lying to victims' families and prematurely closing missing persons cases. He is accused of closing Jang's case without confirming her whereabouts, allegedly telling her boyfriend that he had spoken to her by phone and that she did not wish to speak to him.

Police also found the body of a man in his sixties from Jeju City on Saturday, 22 August 2026. The man had gone missing on 28 June. Bu allegedly closed his case, telling the family the man had been found safe but did not wish to disclose his location.

"We believed the police when they said my father was safe and waited, but after 51 days, what returned was his body," the man's son told reporters.

Two further bodies were found in coastal villages on the island in recent days. It remains unclear whether Bu was involved in handling the missing persons reports connected to those cases.

Four officers on administrative leave

Four officers within Bu's chain of command have been placed on administrative leave as the internal inquiry continues. Police are now reviewing all missing persons reports handled by Bu, which number nearly 300.

South Korea's national police chief was questioned by lawmakers at an emergency National Assembly hearing on Monday, 24 August 2026, where he acknowledged that there was a fault in the system.

Broader questions over missing persons handling

More than 70,000 adults are reported missing in South Korea each year, and 99 per cent of cases are marked resolved within a month, according to figures cited by police. Some experts say the country's generally low crime rate has contributed to missing persons cases not being taken seriously enough.

Professor Lee Yung-hyeock, who specialises in police science at Konkuk University, told Yonhap News Agency that officers who repeatedly observed missing adults being found quickly tended to assume all such cases would resolve the same way.

The scandal comes at a politically sensitive time for South Korea's police force, which recently gained full investigative powers previously held by prosecutors, a change intended to curtail prosecutorial influence in politics. The reform has proven unpopular with a public that has long accused police of corruption and incompetence, and the current controversy has intensified that scrutiny.

Jeju, known for its palm-lined coastline and clear waters, is one of South Korea's most visited destinations, having received more than 13 million domestic and international visitors last year.