Grief at Jeju funeral home as family asks media to focus on police investigation

"We hope the focus will now shift to the investigation into the officer who falsely closed the missing persons case."

A funeral home in Jeju was the scene of quiet grief Thursday, as about a dozen family members and relatives of Jang, a woman in her 30s found dead Monday after going missing 104 days earlier, gathered in small groups around tables, their faces heavy with sorrow.

Few mourners visited the funeral home that morning, and the atmosphere remained subdued even during the lunch hour, when such gatherings typically draw more visitors.

The monitor at the entrance to the funeral hall — normally used to display the name of the deceased and the family — was turned off.

A few floral wreaths stood outside the hall, including one sent in the name of Go Pyeong-gi, chief of the Jeju Provincial Police Agency.

Family members and relatives living in other parts of the country were making their way to Jeju.

Jang's older brother said he hoped people would stop paying attention to the family. "Right now I just want to focus on giving my sister a proper farewell," he said.

He added that he hoped the media would shift its focus away from the family and toward the progress of the investigation.

The family also asked reporters to stop using the victim's real name in coverage, saying the case should be remembered not by the deceased's name but as "the Officer A case" — a reference to the junior officer suspected of falsely closing the missing persons report. They requested that she be referred to anonymously going forward.

Jang was found dead Monday at a palm tree farm just 400 meters from the lodging in Hallim-eup, Jeju, where she had been staying long-term — 104 days after she was last seen leaving the premises on the night of May 12.

Police have detained Officer A, a junior constable, on charges of falsely closing the missing persons cases of Jang and one other person, and are continuing their investigation.

During the search for Jang, police discovered around Aug. 7 that Officer A had no record of a phone call with Jang — a finding that alerted investigators to the alleged misconduct and prompted them to open a formal investigation.