Even as cremation demand is rising quickly due to super-aging, Seoul's share of cremations within three days of death came in at the 70% range. The Seoul city government said adding cremators at Seoul Memorial Park and converting Seoul Municipal Seunghwawon to smart cremators have expanded supply capacity.
According to the Seoul city government on the 18th, Seoul's three-day cremation rate over the past six months stood at about 70%. That contrasts with major metropolitan cities such as Gyeonggi at 63.1% and Busan at 67.1%, which remain in the 60% range.
The three-day cremation rate refers to the share of cremations conducted within three days of death, the typical funeral period. It is also regarded as a bulwark for stable operation of cremation facilities.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, cremation bookings in the greater Seoul area were backlogged, leading to five- and six-day funerals and even cases of going to the provinces for out-of-town cremations. Drawing on that experience and in preparation for super-aging, the Seoul city government set out a plan to expand crematoria.
The Seoul city government began construction in Sep. 2024 to add four cremators at Seoul Memorial Park and completed it in Aug. last year. Seoul believes this helped keep the three-day cremation rate in the 70% range.
A key reason the expansion proceeded relatively quickly was the reserve space secured at the design stage. When Seoul Memorial Park was designed in 2008, it set aside space for additional cremators in view of rapid aging and the shift of funeral culture toward cremation.
Oh Se-hoon, the mayor, said at the time, "Designing for expansion from the start, rather than acquiring a new site and building when needed, is the way to reduce conflict and expense." The space was used as storage and the like for more than 10 years and was identified again in 2021, after Oh returned to city administration, during a review of plans to expand cremation facilities.
With the expansion, Seoul Memorial Park's daily cremation handling capacity rose from 59 to 85 cases. The Seoul city government said the expansion expense was 1.8 billion won, and considering that it typically costs more than 20 billion won to build one new cremator, the expense burden was reduced significantly.
The Seoul city government is also pushing to convert cremators at Seoul Municipal Seunghwawon to smart cremators that automatically control temperature and pressure to shorten cremation time. Smart cremators have been introduced for 16 of the current 23 units, and full conversion will be achieved when the remaining seven are replaced by the end of this year.
The Seoul city government believes smart cremators cut cremation time by about 20 minutes compared with existing ones, producing an effect equivalent to adding 3.5 cremators. Accordingly, starting next year, Seunghwawon's daily cremation count will rise from 127 to 131 cases.
The Seoul city government said it currently operates a total of 38 cremators and can handle about 212 cases a day on average. During periods of surging demand, it said it can raise daily throughput to more than 220 cases by extending operating hours and running reserve cremators.
To reduce negative perceptions of crematoria, the Seoul city government said it developed Seoul Memorial Park as a park-style memorial space. It placed funeral vehicle routes underground and applied architectural designs that blend with the surrounding landscape to reduce inconveniences for residents.
Regarding a state-run bank report that supply of cremation facilities is failing to keep up with rising demand, a city official said, "The data does not reflect at all last year's addition of four cremators or the conversion to smart cremators." The official added, "Like medical and care systems, funeral infrastructure is a core urban base that supports citizens' lives," and said, "We will continue to respond preemptively to rising cremation demand and maintain a stable system so that funeral procedures proceed smoothly within three days."