41 Koreans Missing Abroad for 5 Years... Most in the Philippines

41 Overseas Missing Persons Recorded Since 2018
Criticism Arises Over Accuracy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Statistics

It has been found that about 40 Koreans have gone missing overseas over the past five years, with their whereabouts unknown.

According to data titled ‘Unresolved and Death Status of Missing Reports Among Our Citizens Staying Abroad’ submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Hwang Hee, a member of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, 41 missing persons abroad counted since 2018 have not been located to date.

By country, the highest number of unresolved missing cases was in the Philippines with 11 people. This was followed by Cambodia with 8, Vietnam with 5, China with 5, Japan with 4, Australia with 3, and the United Kingdom with 2. The United States, Nepal, and India each had one overseas missing person.

There were a total of 27 confirmed deaths after missing reports were filed: 4 in Australia, the United States, and New Zealand; 3 in France; and 2 each in Guatemala, Malaysia, and Pakistan. There were no confirmed deaths after missing reports in the Philippines or Cambodia.

The bustling scene at Incheon Airport
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Among them, one missing person in China has not been confirmed alive or dead for over 2,000 days since the missing report was filed. Additionally, 12 overseas missing persons have been unaccounted for more than 1,000 days.

Assemblyman Hwang emphasized, “The government recognizes only one person out of the 41 missing Koreans, but these individuals are precious people whom their families and acquaintances anxiously await.” He added, “Their families and acquaintances have no choice but to place their full hope in the state until the missing persons return.”

Meanwhile, there have been criticisms that the accuracy of such statistics from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be lacking. Hwang’s office received data related to missing Korean nationals abroad from the Ministry last September as well, but despite being the same statistics, the figures differed depending on how consular information was compiled.

The ‘number of confirmed deaths after missing’ was 13 in last year’s data based on 2018. However, even though the number should not decrease due to confirmed deaths, this year’s data showed a decrease to 2. The figures for 2019 also dropped from 8 last year to 4 this year, and for 2020 from 11 to 7.

In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, “The data provided in August this year had omissions because each diplomatic mission incorrectly classified ‘confirmed deaths after missing’ cases when entering information into the consular civil service system.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.