'Find Until the End' Aiming to Recover 220 Remains from the 6.25 War This Year

On the 18th, the Ministry of National Defense held the '2025 Korean War Fallen Soldiers' Remains Excavation Promotion Meeting' at the Defense Convention, presided over by Kim Su-sam, Director of the Personnel Welfare Office of the Ministry of National Defense. At the meeting, more than 50 officials involved in the remains excavation projects from the Ministry of National Defense and each military branch attended to discuss the excavation promotion plan for 2025 and future development measures.

Ministry of National Defense, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

The Korean War fallen soldiers' remains excavation project began in 2000, mobilizing approximately 100,000 ROK Armed Forces personnel annually, achieving the excavation of remains of 11,394 fallen soldiers to date. Among these, the identities of 248 national heroes were confirmed. Additionally, the Ministry of National Defense has secured genetic samples from 71,264 families of fallen soldiers.

The Ministry of National Defense has set five key tasks to achieve this year's goals of excavating 220 remains, collecting 12,000 genetic samples from families, and identifying 25 fallen soldiers. To this end, the five key tasks selected are ▲conducting effective remains excavation operations ▲expanding identification of excavated remains ▲strengthening tailored publicity to encourage family participation and public consensus ▲enhancing civil-military-government collaboration and international cooperation ▲and policy development and vision.

Kim Su-sam, Director of the Personnel Welfare Office who presided over the meeting, stated, “This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Korean War and the 25th anniversary of the remains excavation project. We hope to achieve even greater results,” and added, “Let us honor the noble spirits of the national heroes who dedicated themselves to the country and, as key personnel responsible for carrying out the remains excavation project under the state's unlimited responsibility, work diligently to reunite the national heroes with their families as soon as possible.”

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