Possibility of State Compensation in the 'Officer Bu Case'... Why the Legal Community Brought Up the 'Lee Chun-jae Case'

The bereaved family of Mr. Jang, a man in his 30s who was found dead in Jeju 104 days after going missing, is deliberating over a state compensation claim. If litigation proceeds, the causal relationship between Officer Bu's poor response—including dereliction of duty—and Mr. Jang's death is expected to become the key issue.

Timing unclear... Focus on the 'Officer Bu's illegality–Mr. Jang's death' relationship

On the 26th, attorney Kim Min-ho of law firm LKB & Partners told the JoongAng Ilbo, "For state compensation liability to be recognized, three things must be established: an unlawful act by a public official in the course of duty, the occurrence of damage to the victim or the party entitled to claim, and a substantial causal relationship between the unlawful act and the damage," adding, "Examining whether the false closure of the case by Officer Bu, the police officer in charge, constitutes dereliction of duty (an unlawful act) is the first step." Attorney Kim is representing the state compensation lawsuit in the Incheon 'inter-floor noise knife rampage' case.

The charges Officer Bu, currently under arrest, faces include dereliction of duty and the forgery and use of official electromagnetic records. After receiving the missing-person report on May 15, Officer Bu closed the report in about 2 hours and 30 minutes. It was subsequently confirmed that he had falsely entered 'death by traffic accident' into the missing-person profiling system and deleted materials related to Mr. Jang. In this process, the on-site search was also terminated.

The next key issue is the causal relationship between Officer Bu's unlawful act of poor response and the damage of Mr. Jang's death. Mr. Jang's time of disappearance was around 10:15 p.m. on May 12, but the missing-person report was received three days later, at 6:43 p.m. on May 15. Attorney Kim Guk-il of Daeryun Law Firm said, "With the police strongly viewing the possibility of Mr. Jang's suicide, if Mr. Jang had already died before the missing-person report, it may be difficult for the full amount of the damages claim to be recognized."

Legal community: "Setting aside causation of death, the bereaved family's harm is clear"

However, since the deprivation of the bereaved family's right to know, to recover the body, and to mourn can also be regarded as damage, the legal community's view is that related alimony is highly likely to be recognized. Attorney Jeong Seong-won of law firm DH said, "Setting aside causation, it seems clear that damage occurred—for instance, the bereaved family lost the chance to know at least the minimum truth because the police failed to take the measures they should have," adding, "There is also a possibility that alimony will be recognized."

Attorney Jeong cited, as a similar case, the 'Hwaseong elementary school student disappearance case,' one of the Lee Chun-jae serial murders. In December 1989, the investigation team of the Hwaseong Police Station confirmed part of the body of Kim Hyun-jung, who had gone missing that July, but reburied it in the ground to conceal it, and in August 1990 closed the case as a simple runaway.

In November 2022, the Suwon District Court ruled that the state must compensate the bereaved family 220 million won, saying, "Due to the police's unlawful acts, the bereaved family was infringed for a long period in their right to mourn and commemorate their daughter and their right to know about the cause of death." The court did not find that the police's poor response caused Kim's death, but recognized the mental damage resulting from the bereaved family being unable to learn the truth for a long time due to the investigative agency's concealment and fabrication.

The bereaved family of Mr. A, a man in his 60s whose body was found 51 days after the report due to Officer Bu's false closure, is also complaining of harm. According to the bereaved family, "Even though we visited the police station several times, they only said, 'He is safe but does not want to tell his family his location' and 'Look for him on your own.'"

There is also concern that following the state compensation procedure in such a situation may double the bereaved family's suffering. Attorney Kim Min-ho said, "If only a police-initiated investigation proceeds without the bereaved family's complaint, the state will hold and manage all the key evidence related to causation," adding, "Since proof can become even more difficult in that case, there is a need to actively exercise legal rights such as filing a complaint, and to ease the victim's burden of proof or shift it to the state."

Reporter Heo Jeong-won heo.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr

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Possibility of State Compensation in the 'Officer Bu Case'... Why the Legal Community Brought Up the 'Lee Chun-jae Case' (Go to)