Seongnam City Selected as Outstanding Institution for "Finding Families of the Fallen Soldiers of the Korean War" Project

Support for Procedures Including Buccal Epithelial Cell DNA Collection
Received Plaque of Appreciation from Minister of National Defense

Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor: Shin Sangjin) announced on the 18th that the Bundang-gu Public Health Center was selected as an outstanding institution for its active cooperation with the Ministry of National Defense's "Finding Families of the Fallen Soldiers of the Korean War" project.

Seongnam City Bundang-gu Public Health Center is being awarded as an outstanding institution for actively cooperating with the Ministry of National Defense's "Finding Families of Fallen Soldiers in the Korean War" project. Provided by Seongnam City

As part of its ongoing project since 2000 to recover the remains of soldiers who died in the Korean War, the Ministry of National Defense has been locating bereaved families to collect DNA samples, which are then used to confirm the identities of the remains.

Seongnam City supported the project by assisting with procedures such as verifying the identity of sample donors, preparing cards for both the fallen soldiers and donors, and collecting buccal epithelial cell DNA samples.

Last year, four bereaved family members provided samples through the Bundang-gu Public Health Center, and the related information and DNA samples were delivered to the Ministry of National Defense Agency for KIA Recovery & Identification.

The award ceremony for this recognition was held at 10 a.m. on the same day in the third-floor conference room of the Bundang-gu Public Health Center. At the ceremony, Cho Yongok, Director of the Identification Office at the Ministry of National Defense, presented a Minister of National Defense plaque of appreciation to Koo Seongsu, Director of the Bundang-gu Public Health Center.

An official from the Seongnam City Public Health Center stated, "This award is also a meaningful achievement for the Korean War veterans and their families who dedicated themselves to the country," adding, "We will continue to cooperate with national veterans projects so that more remains of the fallen can be returned to their families."

Over the past 24 years, the Ministry of National Defense Agency for KIA Recovery & Identification has confirmed the identities of 265 fallen soldiers, which is 2.2% of the 12,000 sets of remains recovered.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.