The Seoul National Cemetery, located in Sadang-dong south of the Han River, is always crowded with visitors. Most visitors stop by the Memorial Tower located at the highest spot in the cemetery. They bow their heads in a moment of silence, while the incense sticks burn in the golden burner, and remember those who sacrificed their lives for the country. Here’s Mr. Kwak No-shik of the Seoul National Cemetery to tell us more.

The Memorial Tower is the Cemetery’s signature structure, which commends the patriotism and great feats of those interred there. Inside the tower there is a sealed chamber for the memorial tablets of the Korean War dead whose bodies have never been recovered. There is enough room there to hold 140 thousand tablets. There is also a chamber for the remains of 6,900 unknown soldiers underground. The Memorial Tower was built in 1967 and measures 31 meters tall. From above the structure is in the shape of a cross, signifying that the spirits of the dead soldiers are protecting all four directions of the territory.

The Seoul National Cemetery is a sacred place for the Koreans. Politicians as well as foreign dignitaries pay their respect here when they visit Korea. Here’s Mr. Lee Wan-shik of the Seoul National Cemetery to tell us more.

The Cemetery is the first place presidents and politicians visit before a major event. The purposes of their visits is first to remember and thank those who sacrificed their lives for the country. Second is to emulate their patriotic spirit and love for the people as well as comfort their families, and third is to commit oneself to preventing another war and massive sacrifices on this land.

This year marks the 63rd anniversary of the start of the Korean War. Now those who experienced the devastation of war are vastly outnumbered by those who only learned of those tragic times through textbooks. But a steady stream of people still visits the Seoul National Cemetery these days.

The Seoul National Cemetery was established in 1955 after the Republic of Korea government and the national military forces were founded in 1948 and countless soldiers had died during the violent confrontations between South and North Koreas. Here’s Mr. Lee Wan-shik of the Seoul National Cemetery to tell us more.

Shortly after the South Korean military was established in 1948, there were several insurgencies all over the country in which a number of military servicemen and law enforcement officers lost their lives. Their remains were temporarily kept in a few Buddhist temples, but after the Korean War erupted the number of those killed in action spiked exponentially and the country needed a place where their remains can be kept. Potential locations were scouted between 1952 and 1953 and finally the current place south of the Han River was chosen. The cemetery and its management office opened on July 15, 1955.



The Seoul National Cemetery measures about 143 thousand square meters and about a quarter of that area is taken up by the graves. Some 172 thousand souls are entombed in seven burial grounds – tombs for presidents, martyred patriots, prominent figures of the provisional government, those with distinguished services for the country, soldiers, law enforcement officers, and foreign nationals – and three shrines. The shrine located near the burial ground for martyred patriots is where the memorial tablets of 133 freedom fighters are kept. They are the ones who died for the country’s independence but did not have any children or whose remains were never recovered. Here’s Mr. Lee Wan-shik of the Seoul National Cemetery to tell us more.

In the Cemetery there are tombs for three presidents – Rhee Syngman, Park Chung-hee, and Kim Dae-jung – as well as 250 freedom fighters and patriots who died during the Japanese colonial era, 18 key figures of the provisional government, 65 people who contributed greatly to the country’s development after the establishment of the Republic of Korea, and some 54,000 soldiers and police officers who died during the Korean War and the Vietnam War. There are also 104,000 memorial tablets for those whose remains were never found and the remains of 7,000 unknown soldiers in the underground shrine. In the Muhu shrine the memorial tablets for some 130 martyred patriots, including the young Yu Gwan-sun.

The Cemetery is also the eternal resting place for three presidents and two of their wives – Korea’s first president Rhee Syngman and his wife Francesca, President Park Chung-hee and his wife Yuk Young-soo, and President Kim Dae-jung. Their tombs reflect the characteristics of the times they were in power. Here’s the cemetery’s guide Roh Jeong-seok to explain.

President Rhee Syngman’s tomb is built like that of a Joseon king. His wife is also buried there. President Rhee died in Hawaii in 1965 and his wife Francesca moved to Korea and stayed in Ehwa-jang until her death in 1992. President Park Chung-hee and First Lady Yuk Young-soo’s tombs are decorated with the phoenix and rose of Sharon patterns. To the left of the tomb are magnolia trees, the couple’s favorite. President Kim Dae-jung’s grave is not as big as his predecessors, because the law governing presidential tombs was revised in 2006. So his grave is restricted to about 265 square meters in area, much smaller than the other two.

Each one of the 54,444 graves of patriots has a heartbreaking story to tell. Mothers who had to bury their beloved sons are just too common here. A boy, whose father died during the Vietnam War on Children’s Day, May 5th, is now an old man, but Children’s Day in his memory was never a joyful occasion but a sad reminder of loss. But the story of father and son who were both buried in the Cemetery in 2007 is especially tragic. Here’s the cemetery’s guide Roh Jeong-seok to explain.

There is a tomb which belongs to a father and his son, both Air Force officers. The father, Major Park Myeong-ryeol, was a pilot whose plane crashed during the ROK-US joint military drill in 1984. At the time the son, Park In-cheol, was only five years old. He seemed to follow the advice of his relatives, who told him never to join the Air Force, but when he found out more about his father by the time he was applying for college, he applied to the Korea Air Force Academy to become a combat pilot. But Lieutenant Park died in 2007, during nighttime training when his fighter jet crashed in the waters off Seosan, South Chungcheong Province. They are buried together in plot No. 29, the first joint interment for father and son since the opening of the Seoul National Cemetery.



More and more war dead are finding their eternal resting place here in recent years, because the Ministry of National Defense’s Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification are belatedly finding the remains of those killed during the Korean War. The recovery and identification of the war dead started in earnest in 2000, the 50th anniversary of the Korean War. At the end of the war the official tally of those killed in action was roughly 162,000, but only 29,400 were buried in the Seoul National Cemetery. That means the remains of more than 130,000 soldiers have not been recovered yet. Now into its 13th year, the recovery project succeeded in finding and identifying some 84,000 soldiers, 73,000 of which were South Koreans. The joint tomb for two brothers, Lee Man-woo and Lee Cheon-woo, was built, thanks to the remains recovery project. Here’s the cemetery’s guide Roh Jeong-seok to tell us more.

Staff Sergeant Lee Man-woo, the older brother, entered the military in August 1950 and the younger Cheon-woo followed suit a month later. About a year into the Korean War, the older brother is killed in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. His remains were retrieved and buried in the Seoul National Cemetery. But the remains of his younger brother, who died four months later in Yanggu, Gangwon Province, were never found until the recovery team made its discovery. The younger brother’s remains were kept in Daejeon in 2010, but were moved next to his older brother on June 6, 2011 to mark their brotherly love and patriotic feats. Their joint grave is called the tomb of patriotic brothers.

The younger brother, only 19 years old at the time, had followed the footsteps of his older brother, but was left to rot in the cold earth for sixty years. He was finally able to rest next to his beloved brother in 2011 after the recovery and identification team confirmed his identity. If not for the war, they would have lived their lives loving and depending on each other.

Even now burial ceremonies take place at two and four in the afternoon every day at the Seoul National. The remains are placed in Chunghondang, a charnel house. Here’s Mr. Lee Wan-shik of the Seoul National Cemetery to tell us more.

Chunghondang was built to house the cremated remains. It has been in operation since March 1, 2006, and capable of holding more than 20,800 cinerary urns, about 17,400 indoors and 3,450 outdoors. Currently there are 5,800 urns in Chunghondang, including the one for First Lieutenant Cho Chang-ho, who returned home after 43 years in North Korea as prisoner of war; equestrian Kim Hyung-chil, who died in 2006 while participating in the equestrian events at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar; and Dr. Park Byeong-seon who discovered Jikji, the oldest existing metal-plate printed book, while she was working at the National Library of France and worked relentlessly to repatriate it to Korea.



Time goes by and the world changes. The devastating memories of war fade with time. But the Seoul National Cemetery provides a variety of events to draw more visitors and remind people of the noble sacrifices and achievements. One such event is the martial arts demonstration by military honor guards.

This special program takes place every Saturday at three in the afternoon. The honor guards present martial arts demonstrations, drum performances, parades, and many other interesting events. Visitors to the Cemetery are awed by the soldiers’ disciplined movements.

- My father’s tomb is here. The cemetery has beautiful scenery and my children like it. They like seeing soldiers perform drills with their rifles.
- I come here once a year. I see changes and feel peace whenever I come.
- The traditional honor guards were really nice. Their demonstration with real sabers and the inspection of four military branches were interesting. It’s not every day I see such a wonderful sight.

On weekdays change of guards takes place at the Memorial Gate. It’s much like the change-of-guards ceremony at Buckingham Palace or Arlington National Cemetery.

Not long ago four Taegeukgi trees were planted near the main entrance. The trees with the Korean national flags hanging down from the branches have become the Cemetery’s new landmark. Here’s Mr. Lee Wan-shik of the Seoul National Cemetery to tell us more.

On October 1, 2012 four trees bearing the people’s gratitude to the deceased and hope for reunification were planted near the front gate. Later on six more trees were planted. The tallest tree measures 3.1 meters, representing the March 1st movement during the Japanese colonial era. There are 1,370 taegeukgis, each the size of 15 centimeter by 10 centimeter, hanging from the branches. The number 1,370 represents the 137,000 South Korean troops killed during the Korean War. There is even a photo zone next to the trees.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the armistice of the Korean War, but war has not yet ended for Koreans. Those who visit the Seoul National Park would probably come home with their hearts filled with renewed patriotism, as they remember so many freedom fighters who devoted their lives to Korea’s independence, hundreds of thousands of soldiers who fought to defend freedom during the Korean War, and countless law enforcement officers and military servicemen who fulfilled their duty and made the ultimate sacrifice.