"Family Anger at Police for Delayed Notification of 'Mother Murder'... Petition to Cheong for Punishment of Police Who Remained Idle"

"Save Me" Police Arrived 50 Minutes After Report
"If Police Had Arrived Sooner, Mother Would Not Have Died" Children’s Cheong Wa Dae Petition

Photo by Cheongwadae National Petition Board capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] A controversy has arisen as the child who lost their mother due to the police's delayed response claimed that the police officers who responded at the time neither properly explained the incident nor informed them of the mother's death until later by phone.

On the 23rd, 'Channel A' covered the case of a woman in her 50s who was murdered due to the police's slow response. The victim's daughter, Ms. A, said in an interview with the media, "(The police) asked about my mother's appearance and left, so I asked if something had happened. They said a (missing person) report had been filed. They didn't speak very seriously about it."

Ms. A also said she waited for her mother all night and only learned of the murder late in the morning. She expressed frustration, saying, "I waited until morning, then got a call from an unknown number and found out then," adding, "'How did she pass away?' I asked, and they only said, 'She was murdered.'"

Earlier, this case was brought to public attention when Ms. A posted on the Blue House National Petition Board the day before. Ms. A claimed she lost her mother due to the police's delayed response and demanded strict punishment for the officers involved. As of 8:30 PM on the 23rd, the petition had received over 2,180 signatures.

The petitioner stated, "A few days ago, my mother died after sustaining multiple stab wounds from a man in his 50s," and continued, "At first, I was only angry at the man who killed my mother, but after watching the news, I learned that the police arrived late at the scene and that my mother had already passed away."

He added, "Despite the urgent situation called 'Code Zero,' the police walked past the scene with their hands in their pockets and were still standing with their hands behind their backs even 40 minutes after the report was filed," and claimed, "If the police had been more diligent in their duties and arrived at the scene earlier, my mother would not have died like this."

He further said, "Even though the police were this late, they did not inform me or my younger sibling of this fact," and demanded, "I request punishment and an apology for the officers involved, as well as institutional improvements to prevent such incidents from happening again."

The police are standing with their hands clasped behind their backs at the crime scene. Photo by Channel A News broadcast screen capture.

On the 17th, in a residential area of Gwangmyeong City, Gyeonggi Province, a woman in her 50s called 112 reporting that she was being threatened with a weapon by a man, but due to the police's delayed response, she was ultimately murdered.

At the time, the police activated 'Code Zero,' the most urgent dispatch order, but failed to pinpoint the exact location and wandered around the vicinity for several tens of minutes.

Notably, closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage showed police officers walking slowly in front of the crime scene with their hands in their pockets or behind their backs, which sparked controversy.

Eventually, the police found the crime scene about 50 minutes after receiving the report and arrested the suspect, but the victim had already died from multiple stab wounds.

The suspect reportedly stated that the crime was committed out of anger following an argument. The police applied murder charges and detained the suspect.