Ansan City Wins Excellence Award at "Public Funeral Best Practice Contest"

Universal Funeral Service Policy for Unclaimed Deceased and Others Highly Praised

Ansan City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 31st that it had received the Excellence Award at the recently held "2025 Public Funeral Municipality Best Practice Contest."

Lee Mingun, Mayor of Ansan (center), is encouraging employees who won awards at the "Public Funeral Municipality Best Practice Contest." Provided by Ansan City

The contest, hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and organized by the Korea Funeral Culture Promotion Institute, was designed to discover and promote best practices among municipalities operating public funeral systems. The evaluation comprehensively considered factors such as alignment with the purpose of public funerals, the effectiveness of policies and services, the degree of public-private collaboration, and the potential for application and sustainability in other municipalities.

Ansan City was highly praised for its policies that provide universal funeral services regardless of nationality, reflecting the region's high proportion of foreign residents and the need to support funerals for vulnerable groups. The city added that its proactive administrative efforts-such as ensuring institutional stability through legal review and budget support, and enhancing the professionalism and reliability of public funeral procedures-were also key reasons for the award.

Previously, in May 2020, the city established the "Ordinance on Public Funeral Support," laying the institutional foundation for public funeral support. Since the following year, it has systematically provided public funerals for unclaimed deceased individuals in cooperation with four funeral service agencies.

Lee Mingun, Mayor of Ansan, stated, "We are supporting funeral procedures so that unclaimed deceased individuals, who cannot have funerals due to family breakdown or poverty, can maintain at least a minimum level of dignity. We will continue to devote our attention and support to fulfilling the social responsibilities of the municipality."