Man calls 119, found dead 1 week later because officials went to wrong place

A Busan man living by himself was recently found dead in his home, after the emergency workers he had called for failed to track him down due to an error in their GPS system.

According to local media reports Monday, the victim in his 50s called the 119 emergency hotline on Sept. 8 to report that he was experiencing severe health issues. He notified the operators of his specific address, including the name of the residential-commercial building he was in and the unit number.

But the rescue workers failed to locate him due to an error that navigated them to the wrong location, 280 meters away from their intended destination. The navigation system used by the city's 119 operators was powered by Kakao Map, which had faulty information on the particular region in Seo-gu, Busan.

The man was found dead at his home a week later, during the Chuseok holidays.

Officials at the Busan Metropolitan City Fire and Disaster Headquarters said the rescue workers had returned as it had been impossible for them to locate the victim; he was not answering calls and there were no recent records of the officials being dispatched to that particular area. They vowed to fix the system to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again.

Kakao Corporation, the operator of Kakao Map, told media outlets that it had not been aware that the Busan rescue authorities were using its system.