President Yoon Orders Review to Expand Burial of Police Officers and Firefighters in National Cemetery

Next Year Marks 70th Anniversary of Korea-US Alliance and Armistice... Emphasis on Preparing Whole-Government Events

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] President Yoon Suk-yeol has instructed the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to actively consider expanding the scope of interment at the National Cemetery to include police officers and firefighters.

According to the presidential office on the 9th, President Yoon gave this directive after receiving a briefing from Park Min-sik, head of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon.

Regarding this, Director Park explained, "President Yoon instructed us to prepare a plan to significantly expand the scope of interment to include those serving in the police and fire departments, even if it means expanding the capacity of the National Cemetery in the long term."

He added, "Currently, there is capacity for only about 100,000 interments left, and when combined with soldiers and independence activists, the total is 370,000 people. Even if we expand by 200,000 more during this administration, there will still be a shortage of 70,000 spaces."

President Yoon also urged, "Activate patriotic education so that future generations can have a correct national identity," and emphasized, "We must improve medical accessibility for national merit recipients." Additionally, he instructed to strengthen patriotic diplomacy and improve the treatment of young veterans who have completed their mandatory military service.

Director Park stated, "Next year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korea-US alliance and the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice," and added, "President Yoon once again emphasized preparing next year's events on a whole-of-government basis."

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