Dongducheon City to Promote Cremation Culture with Grants of Up to 300,000 Won Per Household

Dongducheon City in Gyeonggi Province announced that starting this year, it will provide up to 300,000 won in cremation support grants to local residents. This initiative aims to alleviate the financial burden on citizens who have to travel outside the city for cremation, as there is no crematorium within Dongducheon.

Dongducheon City Hall exterior. Provided by Dongducheon City

Currently, Dongducheon does not have a crematorium, so residents must use cremation facilities in other areas and have been subject to relatively high cremation fees. This is because most cremation facilities charge higher rates for non-residents.

The cremation grant is available to the following: relatives who conduct cremation for a deceased person who had been registered as a resident of Dongducheon for at least one year as of the date of death; relatives who cremate an infant or a stillborn fetus who had been registered as a resident of Dongducheon for at least one year; and relatives who exhume graves located in the city and cremate the remains or ashes through proper legal procedures.

The grant amount is up to 300,000 won per body or set of remains cremated, and up to 100,000 won per set of exhumed remains. Applications must be submitted within six months of the cremation date at the administrative welfare center of the deceased's registered address or the location of the grave.

A Dongducheon City official stated, "We expect that this support will provide comfort to bereaved families and substantially reduce their financial burden," adding, "By shifting from traditional burial practices to cremation, we aim to improve funeral culture, prevent land degradation, and promote more efficient land use."