Private Yoon Eui-saeng Identified After 72 Years

[The Asia Business Daily, Military Correspondent Yang Nakgyu] The identity of the late Private Yoon Uisaeng, who was killed in action during the Korean War, has been confirmed after 72 years.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on August 11, the Ministry’s Agency for KIA Recovery & Identification (hereafter MAKRI) announced that remains excavated in Seo-oji-ri, Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon Province, have been identified as those of Private Yoon. The “Return of the Hero” ceremony (notification of identification) for Private Yoon will be held on August 18 at his birthplace in Mungyeong.

The late Private Yoon was born on January 15, 1932, in Yeongsun-myeon, Mungyeong-si, North Gyeongsang Province, as the eldest son among three sons and three daughters. Local residents remember him as a “talented and robust young man.”

When the war broke out and news spread that North Korean forces were advancing south, he said, “I can’t stay here and become a North Korean soldier,” and, fearing reprisals from the North Korean army, he burned all his photographs and personal belongings at home before enlisting at Daegu Training Center in August 1950.

After joining the war, Private Yoon was killed in action while carrying out his mission during the Chuncheon-Hwacheon offensive, which took place from October 5 to 8, 1950, as part of the operation to break through and advance beyond the 38th parallel in the central region following the Incheon Landing Operation. His remains were discovered twelve years ago, in May 2010, by MAKRI and soldiers from the 78th Regiment of the Army’s 27th Division. At the time of excavation, the remains were first identified in a communication trench, along with partial leg bones and some personal belongings presumed to be his. However, there were no matching DNA samples from family members, and it was difficult to confirm his identity through the belongings.

Ten years after the excavation, in June 2020, a staff member at Mungyeong Public Health Center learned that a person named Yoon Jeongsoo was a family member of a Korean War casualty and recommended that he provide a DNA sample. It was later revealed that Private Yoon was his older brother.

His younger brother, Yoon Jeongsoo, said, “My brother was a true patriot who enlisted in the national army to avoid joining the North Korean forces, and I really wanted to find him. I hope to hold a simple identification notification ceremony at his birthplace, the house with the pine tree we used to climb and play on as children.”

Family members of war casualties can provide DNA samples by contacting MAKRI (☎ 1577-5625), public health centers, veterans hospitals, or military hospitals. Since the Korean War remains excavation project began in April 2000, the identities of 194 remains have been confirmed to date.