"After Searching So Desperately" Identification Confirmed for Late Sergeant Park Tae-in, Korean War Veteran

Remains Excavated in 2007 Identified Through Son's DNA Sample
Korean War Fallen Soldiers Remains Excavation Project... Total 197 Returned to Families

The late Sergeant Park Tae-in during his lifetime. [Photo provided by the Ministry of National Defense]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] The identity of the late Sergeant Park Tae-in, who died while engaging in guerrilla warfare against North Korean troops during the Korean War as a police officer, has been confirmed.

The Ministry of National Defense's Remains Recovery and Identification Team (hereafter referred to as the National Recovery Team) announced on the 11th that the remains excavated in May 2007 in Samhak-ri, Yeonggwang-gun, Jeollanam-do, were identified as Sergeant Park.

Sergeant Park, who served as a police officer at Beolgyo Police Station, participated in the war to block the advance of the North Korean 6th Division after the outbreak of the Korean War. This was part of the battles in the Honam region centered around the South Korean Army and Jeonnam Police Bureau in late July 1950. During this operation, the police platoon defending Samhak-ri engaged in guerrilla warfare against a North Korean battalion advancing toward Yeonggwang but was pushed back to Bulgapsan Mountain in Yeonggwang, where Sergeant Park was killed in action.

Sergeant Park was born as the third of eight children (four sons and four daughters) in Jinjeong-ri, Gwangyang-si, Jeollanam-do. His father searched extensively around Boseong and Beolgyo to recover his son's remains but ultimately passed away in 1976 at the age of 95 without reuniting with them. The identification of Sergeant Park was made possible thanks to his son, who was two years old at the time of the war. In November 2020, Park Wan-geun participated in DNA sample collection after learning about the remains excavation project through a broadcast.

Mr. Park said, "I don't have many memories of my father, but what the Ministry of National Defense has accomplished is something unimaginable in the past. I want to lay him to rest peacefully beside my grandfather and mother, who searched so desperately for him."

The notification ceremony for the identification of the deceased will be held on the 13th at the family home located in Gwangyang-si, Jeollanam-do. According to the family's wishes, the remains will be interred in the family cemetery in Seonsan.

The Korean War remains excavation project began in April 2000 and has identified the identities of 197 fallen soldiers to date.

An official from the National Recovery Team stated, "Active participation from the public is necessary for identifying remains, so please contact the National Recovery Team, nearby public health centers, or veterans hospitals. If you wish to provide DNA samples but have difficulty visiting due to mobility issues or livelihood reasons, the National Recovery Team can visit you directly," they urged.

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