A | Most missing adults are found quickly, but gaps in the system can have deadly consequences Police search for Jang Mi-ran, a 37-year-old reported missing in May, at a palm farm in Hallim-eup, Jeju Island. Jang was found dead Monday. (Yonhap)The death of Jang Mi-ran after her missing-person case was allegedly closed on false grounds has renewed scrutiny of South Korea’s system for finding missing adults.South Korea tracks missing-person reports involving adults, but ordinary adult cases are not covered by the same legal framework that allows nationwide alerts, certain forms of location tracking and DNA testing for children, people with specified disabilities and people with dementia.More than 70,000 adults were reported missing each year between 2022 and 2025. Most cases were resolved quickly, with 89.4 percent closed within a day last year and 99 percent within a month, according to National Police Agency data.Of the 70,591 adult missing-person cases closed in 2025, 931 involved people who were found dead.Jang’s case has drawn attention to what can happen when a case is closed before a missing person’s safety has been confirmed.A Jeju police officer surnamed Bu is accused of falsely telling Jang’s boyfriend and family that she was safe but did not want to be found. Police have said they found no records showing that Bu contacted her.Bu is accused of making a similar false claim in another missing-person case involving a man in his 60s, who was also later found dead.The cases have revived a long-running debate over whether police need stronger legal authority to search for missing adults, and how far those powers should extend without infringing on privacy.Gaps in adult casesJang’s cousin reportedly went to Seoul’s Nowon Police Station on July 19 to request another search for her, about two months after Bu allegedly told the family that Jang had been contacted and was safe.Nowon officials reportedly questioned whether Jang, as an adult, might simply have left voluntarily.The high rate of quick case closures has raised concern that some adult cases are treated as routine disappearances. Bu handled and closed 298 missing-person cases during roughly 17 months on a missing-person team.Meanwhile, the number of cases ending in death is not insignificant. Between 2016 and 2025, 13,639 missing adults were eventually found dead, an average of about 1,364 a year. Thousands of long-term cases also remain unsolved. Police search for Jang Mi-ran, a 37-year-old reported missing in May, at a harbor in Jeju Island. Jang was found dead on Monday. (Yonhap)Police have fewer tools in ordinary adult cases.Nationwide missing-person alerts are generally sent out only for minors, people with certain disabilities and people with dementia. Of the 3,126 people found last year under that system, 696, or 22.3 percent, were located after reports from members of the public who had seen an alert.Police searches and investigations accounted for 39.2 percent of discoveries, according to a report jointly submitted by the National Police Agency and the Ministry of Health and Welfare.Ordinary missing adults generally do not qualify for such alerts.Police have used DNA testing since 2004 to identify missing children and other eligible groups. Ordinary adult cases are not covered by the same DNA collection and comparison framework.The scale of adult disappearances is also larger. About 70,800 adult missing-person reports were filed in 2025, more than twice the roughly 29,600 involving children.Legislative pushSouth Korea enacted the Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children and Others in 2005, establishing the legal basis for many of the search tools used today. There is no equivalent comprehensive law for ordinary missing adults.Lawmakers have made repeated attempts to fill that gap.A bill proposed in 2024 by Rep. Lim Ho-seon of the Democratic Party of Korea would establish a separate information system for missing adults and give police clearer authority to obtain location and travel information.The proposal remains pending at the National Assembly alongside similar bills.Supporters argue that broader powers could help police act more quickly when an adult is in danger. Opponents warn that the same powers could be used to track people who have deliberately chosen to leave home or cut off contact.Adults generally have the right to decide where they live and whom they remain in contact with, making the issue more complicated than cases involving children or vulnerable people.Police can already obtain location information in some cases involving signs of imminent danger. The unresolved question is whether that authority should be expanded for missing adults more broadly.。
B | “谁还嫌冠军多呢？我仍然有更多的目标，希望拿好多的冠军。”第八次参加世界锦标赛的巩立姣告诉新华社记者。12日下午三点，尤金烈日当空，两天前抵达美国的巩立姣和参加女子铅球比赛的队友宋佳媛和张林茹一起，进行了两个多小时的训练，这也是她到美国后的首次室外训练。东京奥运会夺冠后，巩立姣给自己放了半年的长假，4个月前才恢复训练，但她对目前的状态感到非常满意。“尽管无法与东京奥运会时相比，但基本已经恢复到了90%。” 奥运会上夺冠并没有消减这位33岁的“老将”心中对夺冠的渴望，并且除了冠军，她还有更高的梦想。
C | “我以前的梦想是在奥运会上赢得冠军，但我的终极梦想是成绩能够突破21米，我也希望下届奥运会之前，或者是巴黎奥运会上，能突破自己，达到自己的极限。” 东京奥运会上，巩立姣以20米58的成绩赢得冠军，这也是她的个人最好成绩，她认为，未来三年突破21米绝非梦想。“21米不是太遥远，其实东京奥运会的时候，我也没有发挥得特别好，我相信还有没有展现出来的实力，因此很想达到21米的目标。” 从11岁开始练习铅球，巩立姣在田径场上摸爬滚打了20多年，她说奥运夺冠后，很多人劝她退役，因为已经“功成名就”，所有的大赛冠军都拿过了，应该急流勇退。但巩立姣决定继续练下去，因为心中对铅球运动有太多的不舍。“不舍得。”她说，“其实即使巴黎奥运会后退，也会不舍，希望慢慢退。
D | 20多年了，铅球已经成了生命中的一部分，现在训练中，感觉铅球就是我的朋友，离不开它。
E | ” 还有一个重要原因，她认为中国田径运动进入了历史上最好的一个时期，出于感恩，她觉得应该为国家赢得更多的荣誉。“现在国家给提供了这么好的训练和比赛环境，我现在也没有伤病，因此必须要坚持下去。
F | ” 尤金世锦赛将在俄勒冈大学体育场举行，巩立姣以前曾两次来过这里参赛，对场地很熟悉。女子铅球比赛将在7月15日和16日两天举行，巩立姣对困难也非常清醒，本赛季对手全部保持了很好的状态，最好成绩超过20米的选手有6人之多，这是往年很少见的现象。庆幸的是，这6名选手中，就有来自上海的小将宋佳媛，她本赛季先后投出20米20、20米38，两度排名赛季世界第一。巩立姣说，能够看到小将接棒，心中非常欣慰。“以前感觉是一个人在战斗，现在有了接班人，心里踏实了很多。”巩立姣说。【编辑:王禹】
G |
Current article:http://7mdmyy.wenwancaomohenenqiongpangshun.bond/list_d2nd/vuf.html
Published on:00:00:00
微信
移动端
