"Gwangju City Cemetery Funeral Facility Improvement Needed"…Assemblyman Lee Myung-no Urges

Concerns have been raised that the municipal burial facilities in Gwangju, expected to reach saturation before 2030, do not allow for the consolidation of existing graves.

On the 21st, Lee Myeong-no, a member of the Democratic Party representing Seo-gu 3, requested improvements to Gwangju City's system, which has no basis for changing single graves to family graves for consolidation, during the Welfare and Health Bureau budget review at the 2nd regular session of the Gwangju Metropolitan Council's Environment and Welfare Committee.

According to Lee's remarks, under the "Ordinance on Funeral Services in Gwangju Metropolitan City," regardless of the reason, if a grave is reopened, the area is returned to city ownership. Lee stated, "We attempted to revise the ordinance to add a proviso clause due to citizen complaints, but the city responded that grave construction is carried out with national matching funds, making individual contracts impossible," adding, "In a limited land area, the city should encourage the desire to bury parents together."

Gwangju City is investing a total of 27.7 billion KRW in burial site development projects with a 70:30 national-to-city matching fund ratio. However, due to bidding conditions and based on the ordinance, the city does not accept requests to convert existing single graves into family graves or to consolidate graves.

Earlier, according to the "Funeral Facility Regional Supply and Demand Plan Establishment Service" held in August at the Welfare and Health Bureau meeting room in Gwangju, the city’s columbarium and natural burial facilities are expected to reach saturation before 2030.

In response, Lee said, "It is a crucial time to expand burial sites and simultaneously improve the system."

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