Ministry of National Defense: "We Will Continue Efforts for Remains Repatriation"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The Ministry of National Defense evaluated the joint South Korea-US ceremony for the mutual transfer of Korean War remains held in Hawaii on the 23rd as a demonstration of the nation's infinite responsibility.

At the regular briefing that day, Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Boo Seung-chan said, "Through close cooperation between South Korea and the US, the repatriation of remains was achieved this time," adding, "We will continue to make efforts so that the patriotic heroes buried under the motherland can be brought back to their families."

President Moon, who visited Honolulu, Hawaii after attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, presided over the "South Korea-US Mutual Transfer Ceremony of Remains" at Hangar 19 of Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu on the afternoon of the 22nd (local time). The 68 remains of South Korean soldiers received by the US side this time were confirmed as South Korean soldiers through identification among the remains delivered from North Korea. After completing his visit to the US, President Moon will return to the homeland together with the remains on his way back home that day.

Meanwhile, President Moon awarded medals posthumously to the late independence activists Kim Nodi and Ahn Jeong-song, whose contributions were confirmed in Hawaii. Since 1995, the government has been discovering and honoring independence patriots. Among the total 1,442 awardees in 1995, about 76% (1,101) were recognized through government discovery, but from 2018 to this year's Liberation Day, among the total 2,109 awardees, the number discovered by the government increased to 1,668 (about 79%).

The number of female independence patriots has increased by 241 since 2018, reaching a total of 540, and the number of student independence patriots has reached a total of 667, including 256 since 2018.