Jeju court issues arrest warrant for police officer in missing person case

JEJU, South Korea, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- The Jeju District Court on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for a Jeju police officer accused of wrongfully closing a missing person case that may have led to the woman's death.

The court began the officer's arrest warrant hearing at 2:30 p.m. on charges of dereliction of duty, forgery, falsifying public electronic records and obstruction of official duties through deception.

The officer is accused of allegedly prematurely closing the case of the missing woman, Jang Mi-ran, in May without confirming her safety and deleting her information from the police's missing persons profiling system.

A body discovered on the southern island of Jeju has been confirmed to be that of Jang, police said Tuesday.

The officer was placed under emergency detention Saturday but was released Monday after a court reviewed the legality of his detention.