On the 81st Liberation Day, more than 7,600 independence activists nationwide who were recognized for their merits in the independence movement have not been able to receive their medals because descendants have not been found.
According to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs on the 15th, 7,622 people who were awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Order of Merit for National Foundation medal, and presidential citation for independence movement merits have not actually received them because their descendants have not been found.
By region, Gyeonggi Province had the most at 547. It was followed by South Chungcheong 456, North Jeolla 412, North Gyeongsang 371, Gangwon 347, South Jeolla 278, South Gyeongsang 246, Seoul 214, North Chungcheong 183, and Jeju 27.
Excluding 3,026 in the North (39.7%) and 1,479 whose registered domicile could not be confirmed at all (19.4%), roughly 40% of those who have not received medals have their registered domicile in the South but are still difficult to trace to descendants.
The difficulty in tracing descendants appears to stem from many cases in which identities were concealed during the independence movement, people died young in the struggle and left no children, or families were not properly informed of the independence activities.
Over the more than 80 years that followed, verifying related records and family relations has become even more difficult.
For example, activist Kim Su-min, who raised a militia in Jangdan County, Gyeonggi (now the Paju and Yeoncheon area) and died resisting Japanese rule, was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Independence Medal, in 1962, but the medal has not been conferred for 64 years because descendants have not been found.
Activist An Gyeong-suk, who died while raising military funds for the militia in Yangju and Pocheon, Gyeonggi, was also recognized for independence movement merits this year, about 118 years later, and was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Patriotic Medal, but neither descendants nor the location of the gravesite have been identified.
In response, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs launched a project in 2007 to find descendants of independence activists abroad who have not received medals.
Since 2018, under the directive "Regulations on the establishment and operation of the committee for confirming descendants of independence activists," it has operated the "committee for confirming descendants of independence activists," composed of experts in history, genealogy, and family law.
However, there are calls for a more systematic and focused investigation beyond the existing projects.
Hwang Min-ho, a professor in the Department of History at Soongsil University, said, "If there are more than 7,000 people who have not received medals, it would be necessary to form a dedicated team with separate support and conduct a full survey," and suggested, "One option is to temporarily create a special task force (TF) at the Independence Hall of Korea and conduct the investigation together with veterans offices or the Liberation Association."