Daegu City Council Member Jeong Ilgyun Proposes Ordinance Exempting Crematorium Usage Fees for Residents Near Daegu Facility

Jeong Ilgyun, a member of the Daegu City Council (People Power Party, Suseong-gu District 1), sponsored the partial amendment ordinance bill on the installation and operation of funeral facilities in Daegu Metropolitan City at the 320th extraordinary session on the 20th. The bill aims to secure additional capacity at the city-run columbarium, which has reached saturation, and to establish grounds for supporting residents living near the crematorium facility, Myeongbok Park.

Currently, the Daegu City public columbarium can accommodate approximately 30,700 enshrinements, but it has already reached full capacity, making it difficult to meet future demand for enshrinement. In addition, Daegu City has long been pursuing a modernization project for Myeongbok Park in Suseong-gu to improve its outdated facilities, but the project has been delayed due to ongoing opposition from local residents.

Daegu City Council member Jeong Ilgyun

Assemblyman Jeong sought to establish a legal foundation to resolve the shortage of enshrinement space by allowing remains enshrined in the public columbarium to be relocated to the public natural burial ground. As part of support for nearby residents, he also aimed to provide grounds for reducing the burden of using cremation facilities, thereby securing momentum for the project and promoting coexistence with the local community.

The main points of this amendment ordinance include: allowing the relocation of remains enshrined in the public columbarium to the public natural burial ground; exempting residents of the areas near the Myeongbok Park modernization project (Gomo-dong, Manchon 2-dong and 3-dong) from cremation facility usage fees; and deleting the clause regarding the installation period for joint burial graves.

Jeong Ilgyun emphasized, "The public columbarium and Myeongbok Park are extremely important spaces directly connected to the lives of citizens. The shortage of enshrinement capacity is an issue that directly affects citizens' funeral culture, and the modernization of Myeongbok Park is an essential task to create a safer and more comfortable funeral environment." He added, "I will continue to do my best to establish practical systems that can reduce inconvenience for citizens and improve their quality of life."