[INTERVIEW] After 35 years of searching, activist still fights indifferent system for Korea's missing

Na Joo-bong, chief of the National Organization of Finding Missing Children and Family, says Korea’s missing-person investigations remain hampered by police indifference and limited expertise. The Jeju case in which an officer closed cases without confirming people’s whereabouts highlighted the legal gap affecting missing adults, who are not covered by the Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children. Na calls for a dedicated government body and expert teams to handle missing children, vulnerable people and adults.

The Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children covers people who went missing before age 18, people with intellectual disabilities and dementia patients, but not missing adults generally.

Na said many police stations lack missing-person investigation teams, and officers assigned to such cases may rotate after only one or two years.

Na began searching for missing people in 1991 after meeting the fathers of the five Daegu boys known as the frog boys, and he printed 20,000 flyers at his own expense.

Na proposes a body under the president’s or prime minister’s office with teams drawn from public, private and police sectors.

Na said police should be able to track a missing adult’s location without consent when necessary if the person has not been found after the critical 24-hour window.

Published Oct 23, 2026 7:00 am KST

Lack of police expertise, families' hesitation make missing adults hard to find, Na Joo-bong says

Na Joo-bong, chief of the National Organization of Finding Missing Children and Family, poses at the organization's office in Dongdaemun District, Seoul, Sept. 7. Korea Times photo by Park Ung

Na Joo-bong has spent 35 years searching for missing people. For him, the recent case of a Jeju police officer who prematurely closed multiple missing persons cases was no surprise.

“Among 262 police stations in Korea, many lack missing persons investigation teams. It’s a department officers avoid, since the work spans missing children and adults, as well as runaways, with a heavy caseload and little to show for the effort,” said Na, 69, chief of the National Organization of Finding Missing Children and Family.

The severity of the problem came to light in August, when the Jeju officer was found to have closed the case of Jang Mi-ran, a 37-year-old woman missing for months, without confirming her whereabouts. Jang’s remains were later found, and the officer admitted to closing multiple such cases to avoid the extra workload involved in keeping them open.

The case has raised public awareness of missing adults, but the current Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children only covers people who went missing before turning 18, along with people with intellectual disabilities and dementia patients, leaving adults in a legal blind spot.

Jeju officer admits closing missing person cases to avoid extra work

Jeju missing person cases raise doubts over police readiness for sole investigative power

Pattern of indifference

Na said the situation used to be far worse before the serial murders committed by Yoo Young-chul, who was convicted of killing 20 people between 2003 and 2004, and Kang Ho-sun, who killed 10 from 2005 to 2008.

As those cases shocked the public, authorities began taking cases of missing adults more seriously, and the system for finding them gradually grew more structured, Na said. Kang’s case, in particular, drew Na's attention more deeply to missing adults.

“Families of Kang’s victims reported them missing, but police just noted the reports and dismissed them as runaways without properly searching. So the families made flyers themselves and came to me, asking for help finding their mother or daughter.”

Flyers of missing children are posted at the office of the National Organization of Finding Missing Children and Family in Dongdaemun District, Seoul, Sept. 7. Korea Times photo by Park Ung

Police indifference isn’t the only obstacle families face. They themselves often aren’t sure whether their loved one is truly missing, making an immediate search harder to launch.

“It isn’t easy for families to hand out flyers for an adult family member, say, in their 30s or 50s. They worry what people will think if the person turns up after just a few days of no contact,” Na said, adding that even when flyers go out, the public shows less interest than it does for missing children.

Na recalled a case from about 20 years ago.

“A homemaker in her 30s said she was going to the market and disappeared. Her husband called relatives asking if anyone had heard from her. He wondered if she’d run off with someone and only later reported it to police. Even a week later, he couldn’t bring himself to post flyers, worried about how others would see it.”

Authorities found the woman's skeletal remains months later and police simply classified her death as a suicide driven by personal despair.

Cases in which families hold off on reporting a missing adult are common, Na said, since adults sometimes turn up on their own after a day or even a week.

“Unless there's a sign like a large sum of money being withdrawn around the time of the disappearance, it’s hard for police to open a task force for a full investigation,” he said.

Na Joo-bong, left, chief of the National Organization of Finding Missing Children and Family, and his son hand out flyers seeking missing people in Seoul in the 1990s. Courtesy of Na Joo-bong

A lack of expertise makes investigations even harder, a gap that leads to many years of working on missing person cases, but few officers stay that long.

“In areas like intelligence, security and criminal investigations, officers typically stay for decades, building up expertise over time. But in cases like Jeju’s, officers are on rotational posts lasting just one or two years, with no time to build expertise.”

Fostering a sense of mission among officers and adding personnel are important since police are stretched thin, he explained.

Na’s own search for missing people began in 1991, when he traveled the country performing and selling cassette tapes. In Incheon, he met fathers handing out flyers for their missing sons.

The five boys, all elementary school students, were dubbed the “frog boys” by the media after they went missing in the southeastern city of Daegu earlier that year while out looking for salamander eggs. The case gripped the nation for over a decade until their remains were found on a nearby mountain, though the killer was never identified.

A flyer seeking five elementary school boys who went missing in Daegu in 1991, dubbed the "frog boys," is displayed at the office of the National Organization of Finding Missing Children and Family in Dongdaemun District, Seoul, Sept. 7. Korea Times photo by Park Ung

Na got flyers from the fathers and began handing them out to crowds at his shows.

Before parting ways with them, he took more flyers to distribute at markets, train stations and bus terminals while selling cassettes. When the flyers ran out, Na had 20,000 more printed at his own expense. His efforts drew media attention and he devoted himself to the cause full-time.

That commitment was fueled by what he had witnessed firsthand.

“When I met the fathers of the 'frog boys,' I thought about how painful it must be for kids to be separated from their parents. In the 1980s, I ran a street stall near Cheongnyangni Station in Seoul, where kids from the countryside who came to Seoul often ended up sold into prostitution or drugged and forced to peddle pens and newspapers. Seeing that, I figured that was probably what happened to children who went missing at a young age.”

That personal history shaped his policy proposal. Na is calling for the creation of a body under the president’s or prime minister’s office, with dedicated teams for finding children under 18, people with disabilities, dementia patients and missing or runaway adults.

“A team like that, made up of experts from the public, private and police sectors, could resolve most cases early, and related legislation needs to come quickly," he said. "Once the critical 24-hour window closes and a missing adult still hasn’t turned up, police should be able to track their location, even without consent, if necessary.”

韩国全国失踪儿童及家庭寻找组织负责人罗柱峰表示，韩国失踪人口调查仍然受到警方漠不关心和专业能力不足的阻碍。济州岛案件中，一名警官在未确认失踪人员下落的情况下结案，凸显了法律在保护失踪成年人方面的漏洞，因为成年人并不在《失踪儿童保护与支援法》的保护范围之内。罗柱峰呼吁设立专门的政府机构和专家团队来处理失踪儿童、弱势群体和成年人的案件。

《失踪儿童保护和援助法》涵盖18岁之前失踪的人、智力障碍者和痴呆症患者，但不包括一般失踪的成年人。

Na表示，许多警察局缺乏失踪人口调查小组，而且负责此类案件的警员可能一两年后就会轮换。

1991年，罗先生在遇到被称为“青蛙男孩”的五位大邱男孩的父亲后，开始寻找失踪人口，并自费印制了2万份传单。

Na 建议在总统或总理办公室下设立一个机构，团队成员来自公共部门、私营部门和警察部门。

Na表示，如果失踪成年人在关键的24小时期限后仍未找到，警方应该能够在必要时未经同意追踪其位置。

发布于2026年10月23日 上午7:00（韩国标准时间）

罗柱峰表示，警方缺乏专业知识以及家属的犹豫不决，使得寻找失踪成年人变得困难。

9月7日，韩国失踪儿童及家庭寻找全国组织负责人罗柱峰在首尔东大门区的该组织办公室拍照。韩国时报朴雄摄

罗柱峰从事失踪人口调查工作35年，因此，济州岛一名警察提前结案多起失踪人口案件的事件对他来说并不意外。

“韩国262个警察局中，很多都没有失踪人口调查小组。警员们都不愿涉足这个部门，因为这项工作涉及失踪儿童、成人以及离家出走者，案件繁重，但成果却微乎其微，”69岁的全国寻找失踪儿童和家庭组织负责人罗先生说道。

问题的严重性在8月份暴露出来。当时，济州岛一名警官被发现未确认失踪数月的37岁女子张美兰的下落，便结案。张美兰的遗体后来被找到，该警官承认为了避免继续调查案件带来的额外工作量，他曾多次结案。

该案件提高了公众对失踪成年人的关注，但现行的《失踪儿童保护和支持法》仅涵盖 18 岁之前失踪的人，以及智力障碍者和痴呆症患者，这使得成年人处于法律盲区。

济州岛一名警官承认为了避免额外工作而关闭失踪人口案件。

济州岛失踪人口案件引发人们对警方是否具备单独侦查权的质疑

冷漠模式

罗女士表示，在柳英哲（2003 年至 2004 年间杀害 20 人）和姜浩善（2005 年至 2008 年间杀害 10 人）犯下连环杀人案之前，情况要糟糕得多。

娜女士表示，随着这些案件震惊公众，当局开始更加重视成年人失踪案件，寻找失踪成年人的系统也逐渐完善。尤其是康女士的案件，让她对成年人失踪问题更加关注。

“康的受害者家属报案称她们失踪，但警方只是记录了报案，并未进行认真搜寻，就将她们归类为离家出走。因此，家属们自己制作了寻人启事，并来找我，请求我帮忙寻找他们的母亲或女儿。”

9月7日，在首尔东大门区全国失踪儿童及家庭寻找组织办公室张贴了寻人启事。韩国时报朴雄摄

警方的漠视并非家属面临的唯一障碍。他们自己往往也无法确定亲人是否真的失踪，这使得立即展开搜寻变得更加困难。

“对于家属来说，为一位30多岁或50多岁的成年家庭成员发放寻人启事并不容易。他们担心如果这个人几天没联系就突然出现，人们会怎么想，”娜女士说。她还补充道，即使发放了寻人启事，公众对失踪儿童的关注度也远不及对失踪儿童的关注度。

Na回忆起大约20年前的一个案例。

一位三十多岁的家庭主妇说她要去市场，结果就失踪了。她丈夫打电话给亲戚，询问是否有人联系上她。他怀疑她是不是跟别人私奔了，后来才报警。即使过了一个星期，他还是不敢张贴寻人启事，担心别人会怎么看。

几个月后，当局发现了这名女子的遗骸，警方简单地将她的死因定性为因个人绝望而导致的自杀。

Na表示，家人迟迟不报案的成年人失踪案例很常见，因为成年人有时会在一天甚至一周后自行出现。

他说：“除非有迹象表明失踪前后有大量现金被提取，否则警方很难成立专案组进行全面调查。”

20世纪90年代，韩国全国失踪儿童及家庭寻找组织负责人罗柱峰（左）与儿子在首尔派发寻人传单。照片由罗柱峰提供。

缺乏专业知识使调查更加困难，这一差距导致许多警官花费多年时间处理失踪人口案件，但很少有警官能坚持那么久。

“在情报、安全和刑事调查等领域，警员通常会任职数十年，随着时间的推移积累专业知识。但在像济州岛这样的案例中，警员只是轮岗，任期只有一两年，根本没有时间积累专业知识。”

他解释说，由于警力不足，培养警员的使命感和增加警力非常重要。

罗先生寻找失踪人口的行动始于1991年，当时他周游全国，一边表演一边售卖磁带。在仁川，他遇到一些父亲正在分发寻人启事，寻找他们失踪的儿子。

这五名男孩都是小学生，年初在韩国东南部城市大邱外出寻找蝾螈卵时失踪，媒体称他们为“青蛙男孩”。此案震惊全国十余年，直到他们的遗骸在附近的一座山上被发现，但凶手始终逍遥法外。

9月7日，在首尔东大门区全国失踪儿童及家庭寻找组织办公室，张贴着寻找1991年在大邱失踪的五名小学生（被称为“青蛙男孩”）的传单。韩国时报朴雄摄

Na从父亲们那里拿到传单，开始在他的演出中向观众分发。

在与他们分道扬镳之前，他带着更多传单到市场、火车站和汽车站发放，同时售卖磁带。传单发完后，纳自掏腰包又印了2万份。他的努力引起了媒体的关注，他也从此全身心投入到这项事业中。

他亲眼目睹的一切更加坚定了他的决心。

“当我见到‘青蛙男孩’的父亲们时，我想到孩子们与父母分离该是多么痛​​苦。上世纪80年代，我在首尔清凉里站附近摆过一个街边摊，那里经常有从农村来到首尔的孩子被卖去卖淫，或者被下药强迫兜售钢笔和报纸。看到这些，我想那些年幼失踪的孩子大概也是遭遇了同样的命运。”

这段个人经历影响了他的政策提案。纳呼吁在总统或总理办公室下设立一个机构，组建专门团队寻找18岁以下儿童、残疾人士、痴呆症患者以及失踪或离家出走的成年人。

他说：“像这样一支由公共部门、私营部门和警方专家组成的团队，可以尽早解决大多数案件，相关立法也需要尽快出台。一旦关键的24小时期限过去，失踪成年人仍未出现，警方应该能够在必要时追踪其位置，即使未经其同意。”