Missing Name Plaque for Child Soldier Veterans
Omission from National Cemetery Memorial Tablet
The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) has recommended establishing historical research and exhibition spaces for under-18 child soldiers who participated in the Korean War.
On the 10th, the ACRC announced that it had conveyed its opinion urging measures to honor child soldiers to the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.
The ACRC recently received a grievance petition from a civilian whose father served as a child soldier in the Korean War, requesting the establishment of historical research and a memorial museum. The petitioner provided the ACRC with a list and supporting evidence of 42 child soldier war casualties from the Incheon area, collected over more than 30 years.
Upon investigation, the ACRC confirmed that among the 42 child soldiers, only 8 had their participation recorded in military service records. Furthermore, 5 of these were found to either not have memorial tablets enshrined at the National Cemetery or had their names registered incorrectly.
The ACRC also noted that among the 58 memorial monuments for war veterans erected by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs since 2016 across local governments and schools nationwide, none specifically commemorate child soldiers. Additionally, it was confirmed that there is no exhibition space dedicated to child soldiers within the War Memorial of Korea, and that the list of child soldier war casualties was omitted from publications by the Military History Research Institute.
Accordingly, the ACRC recommended that the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs explicitly acknowledge the participation of child soldiers on veterans’ memorial monuments and construct memorial facilities. It also expressed the opinion that the Director of the National Seoul National Cemetery should enshrine the missing memorial tablets of child soldiers.
An ACRC official stated, "Proper recognition of child soldiers who dedicated themselves to the nation is a rightful duty of the state," adding, "We will strive to ensure that measures to honor and commemorate child soldiers are properly implemented."
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