121 Remain Missing
"2024 Annual Report on Missing Children, etc."
Last year, the total number of missing person reports approached 50,000. Of these, nearly half-about 25,000-were children. The number of missing persons with disabilities and dementia patients also exceeded 20,000.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Police Agency announced on August 29 that, in accordance with the amended "Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children, etc.," they have published and submitted the first-ever "2024 Annual Report on Missing Children, etc." to the National Assembly. This report details the current status and achievements of policies targeting socially vulnerable groups, including missing children, persons with disabilities, and dementia patients.
According to the report, a total of 49,624 missing person reports were filed in 2024. Of these, 48,872 cases occurred in 2024, and 48,751 individuals were found, while 121 remain missing. Among those not yet found, there are 64 children, 41 persons with disabilities, and 16 dementia patients. The overall non-discovery rate (the proportion of missing persons not yet found) stands at 0.25%, with rates of 0.25% for children, 0.49% for persons with disabilities, and 0.1% for dementia patients, respectively. Children accounted for the largest number of missing person reports at 25,692, followed by 8,430 persons with disabilities and 15,502 dementia patients.
The speed of locating missing persons is gradually improving. Based on last year's cases, 43% of missing persons were found "within one hour" of being reported, and 89% were found "within one day." The rate of discovery "within two days" reached 95%. The authorities noted that the proportion of cases resolved within one hour or one day has steadily increased over the past three years.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Police Agency are implementing various policies to prevent disappearances and ensure early detection. Key initiatives include issuing identification cards for children without guardians, establishing a genetic information database, distributing wandering detection devices in partnership with SK hynix, providing identification tags for dementia patients, and a pre-registration system for fingerprints and facial information.
Yoon Suhyeon, Director of the Child Abuse Response Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "With the publication of the annual report, we will re-examine the systems for preventing and supporting the return of missing children," adding, "In particular, we plan to review specialized response systems for individuals with intellectual, autistic, and mental disabilities, who have a relatively higher non-discovery rate."
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