[2025 Unclaimed Deaths Report⑤] Relatives Often Powerless... 34% Refuse or Do Not Respond to Body Claims

22.2% Are 'Pure Unclaimed Deaths' With No Relatives to Contact
44% of Bodies Are Transferred to Families Just Before the Funeral

In the past five years, three out of ten people who died without known relatives were actually rejected by their families when authorities requested them to claim the bodies.

According to a comprehensive survey by The Asia Business Daily on December 23, which examined all cases of deaths without known relatives recorded by local governments nationwide from 2021 through May of this year, 7,336 out of 21,896 cases (33.5%) involved situations where the police or local authorities contacted family members, but either received no response or the family refused or avoided claiming the body. The term "death without known relatives" includes both cases where there are no family members at all and cases where family members exist but refuse or avoid claiming the body.

When including 1,747 cases (7.98%) where there was no available data on relatives or it was impossible to verify, the proportion of those effectively abandoned by their families is estimated to exceed 40%. An official in charge of deaths without known relatives at a local government explained, "Recently, there has been a noticeable increase in cases where families refuse or avoid claiming the body."

The reasons why bereaved families refuse to claim bodies are varied. It is not simply due to "family discord" or "estrangement." In some cases, even though the deceased and their family maintained contact, the family was forced to give up claiming the body because they could not afford funeral expenses due to financial hardship. In these situations, the deceased is registered as having no known relatives, and the family says their final farewell through a public funeral service supported by the local government. An official responsible for deaths without known relatives in Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul, said, "We cannot always judge families harshly just because they refuse or avoid claiming the body. When we see families who do claim the bodies, it becomes clear that everyone has their own circumstances."

Those who are so-called "true cases of no known relatives," with no one to contact even on paper, accounted for 4,861 people, or 22.2% of the total. Since no relatives could be identified, these individuals were cremated immediately following the public funeral procedures stipulated by local ordinances. When combining the proportions of these true cases, those who did not respond, those who refused or avoided, and those whose relatives could not be verified, the total reaches 63.7%-meaning more than six out of ten people who died without known relatives ended their lives alone.

Not every person who dies without known relatives ends their life completely alone. Even in cases where the deceased lived alone and had distant relationships with family, there are instances where relatives eventually come forward to claim the body. The survey found that transfer to a spouse or immediate family occurred in 5,612 cases (25.6%), the highest proportion, while transfer to collateral relatives such as siblings or nephews and nieces accounted for 4,087 cases (18.7%). Currently, when a death without known relatives is reported, there is a roughly two-week period during which authorities search for family members. If a relative is found during this time, the funeral and cremation are conducted under the direction of the bereaved family.

Jeagal Hyunsook, professor of social welfare at Hanshin University, pointed out, "There are many cases where people cut off contact with their families because they do not want to be a financial burden, and the number of single-person households with severed family ties is increasing. As social polarization in our society worsens, it is crucial to establish a social safety net that helps individuals overcome setbacks without falling into poverty."