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| (출처=SBS '그것이 알고 싶다' 캡처) |
On the 26th, SBS's "I Want to Know" focused on the case of Yoon Se-joon, who went missing while backpacking in Japan last June under the theme of "The Last Destination Left in the Labyrinth.
Mr. Yoon, a twenty-six-year-old social worker, left his job at a welfare center to go backpacking in Japan on May 9 before starting a new job. It was his second trip abroad and his first solo backpacking trip, and he planned to stay for more than a month.
But on June 8, about a month into his trip, he suddenly lost contact with Sejun. At around 8 p.m., Sejun called his sister and said, "I'm on my way to my hostel, but it's raining, windy, and dark. It's an hour and a half walk to my hostel."
After talking to his sister for about 30 minutes, Sejun said he would arrive at his hostel in about 10 minutes and hung up the phone, leaving a message saying, "Welcome home," but he hasn't been heard from since.
On June 14, Sejun's sister filed a missing person's report with the police, and the consulate was also notified, leading to an investigation by Japanese police. All of Sejun's financial records had been cut off on June 8, and his cell phone was difficult to trace because South Korea does not have a Japanese cell tower.
At the time of his disappearance, Se-joon was traveling in Kushimoto-cho, Wakayama Prefecture, Osaka, Japan, a town that does not receive many tourists. Acquaintances said Sejun's behavior was not surprising, as he usually preferred places with a local feel to tourist attractions.
After arriving in Kushimoto-cho on June 7, Sejun spent the night at a guesthouse in Shionomisaki Village and the next day spent some time in downtown Kushimoto-cho before boarding a bus heading back toward Shionomisaki Village at 8 p.m. and getting off in front of the post office.
Local residents said that there were no facilities where Sejun got off, such as an inn, where he could stay. In fact, police investigations have not been able to find any indication of where Mr. Sejun last stayed. After contacting every lodging establishment within an hour's drive of where Sejun got off, no one remembered him.
Several theories emerged. Acquaintances mentioned the possibility that Sejun might have gotten lost, as he was not good at reading Japanese and it was dark, so he might have taken the wrong route. Another expert mentioned a car accident. However, a nearby hospital said it had never received a foreigner or unidentified patient.
With the situation again in limbo, local residents spoke of other possibilities. In Kushimoto-cho, a popular fishing destination, accidents involving people falling into the sea are common. One resident said, "There are people who go missing once or twice a year. They are lucky if they are found, and many are never found. The deeper the water, the harder it is to find them."
The bus driver who picked up Sejun on the morning of the accident also gave an eyewitness account, saying, "I asked him why he came to this place, and he replied in Japanese that he came because he liked the sea." Acquaintances also said that Mr. Sejun enjoyed sea fishing.
A local expert said of Kushimoto-cho: "The land is low and the tidal flats are well developed. When the tide is low, you can walk around, but when the tide is high, it's a place where people often get into accidents." "There's a Kuroshio Current that runs from west to east, and if you get caught in it, you're likely to end up in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which is quite far away," explained a local expert.
"The Japanese police asked me why they couldn't trace his location to his carrier in Korea, so I asked them if they could do it here since he was roaming abroad," said Sejun's sister. I still haven't received an answer."
As it turns out, the police only need to request the location from the carrier. But he hadn't been traced for two months. When I requested an interview with the police, I was told that I could only be interviewed through the Metropolitan Police Department. The consulate also replied that the investigation was being conducted by the Japanese police, and that inquiries could be made to the Japanese police.
"The most important thing in a missing person's case is location. The most accurate method is cell phones. It's a zero, which is unacceptable for a police disappearance investigation anywhere in the world. It's shocking," he said, adding, "Even if they had located him as soon as possible, even if they had identified his last known location, they could have started from there. They could have found him by now. I'm sad and angry about that," he said.
"In Japan, there is no profiling system. You just type it into a computer, print it out, and stick it on. They fax it to the nearest police station. Japan's missing persons investigation methods are very backward."
Sejun's sister says, "He's a goofball, but he's also very determined. He's the most important person in the family," she said.
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