Off-duty officer spots lost 6-year-old wandering alone in the cold, reunites child with family

An off-duty police officer who spotted a 6-year-old child wandering the streets alone managed to reunite the child safely with family.

The Korean National Police Agency posted a video Tuesday to its official YouTube channel showing how an officer found the lost child in Nam-gu, Ulsan, on Oct. 5 and handed the child over to a guardian.

The footage shows a young child walking alone with no guardian in sight. The officer had been out running personal errands on a day off when the child caught their attention.

Concerned to see a child walking alone in thin clothing despite the chilly weather, the officer stopped the child and asked, "Where are your parents? Where are you headed?" to assess the situation.

Sensing the child was lost, the officer asked a nearby shop owner to call 112 on their behalf. When the child began to drift out of sight, the officer approached directly, took the child firmly by the hand and moved to a safe location.

Officers who responded to the call arrived at the scene, took the child from the reporting person and transported the child by patrol car to the local police substation.

At the substation, a grandmother was already waiting after filing a missing-person report saying her grandson had disappeared. The child arrived with the officers and was reunited with the grandmother, who let out a sigh of relief.

Police also enrolled the child in a missing-person prevention pre-registration program. The program allows authorities to register information about children and other vulnerable individuals in advance so they can be located quickly if they go missing.

Online commenters reacted warmly to the video. "I'm so glad the child made it home," one wrote. Others said the child "was really lucky" and praised the officer's sharp eye.