‘Noble Sacrifice of Four Brothers’ … Ulsan Ulju-gun, Joint Memorial Ceremony for National Meritorious Persons

The National Meritorious Four Brothers War Dead Memorial Association held a memorial ceremony on the 6th at Chung Hyojeong in Dudong-myeon, Ulju-gun, to pray for the souls of the patriotic martyrs on Memorial Day.

The event was attended by Kim Du-gyeom, Mayor of Ulsan; Kim Ki-hwan, Chairman of the Ulsan City Council; Lee Soon-geol, Ulju-gun Governor; Kim Young-cheol, Chairman of the Ulju-gun Council; members of the National Assembly; heads of veterans' organizations in Ulju-gun; and about 400 members.

They took time during the event to console the spirits of the National Meritorious Four Brothers and honor their noble spirit of sacrifice.

The memorial ceremony for the four national merit brothers is currently underway.

The brothers are the only family in Korea with four siblings who sacrificed their lives for the country during the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The eldest son, Lee Min-geon (Army Corporal), the second son, Lee Tae-geon (Army Specialist), and the third son, Lee Young-geon (Army Specialist), died in the Korean War, while the youngest son, Lee Seung-geon (Marine Sergeant), died in the Vietnam War.

The National Meritorious Four Brothers Memorial Association was established on June 17, 2005, to honor the noble sacrifice of the four brothers, and annually undertakes projects such as maintaining the brothers' war dead gravesites and holding memorial ceremonies.

On this day, the Ministry of National Defense awarded the Hwarang Military Merit Medal posthumously to Lee Min-geon, the eldest of the National Meritorious Four Brothers, to his son Lee Jun-gil as part of the "Finding Local Heroes" project.

This project seeks out individuals who were awarded military merit medals during the Korean War but have not yet received them, and presents the medals accordingly.