Memorial Day in Korea

Today was a national holiday in Korea, known as "Memorial Day".

This was the 57th Memorial Day, a holiday held in honour of all South Koreans who died in defense of the nation during the Korean War, or during other periods.  To mark Memorial Day, remembrance ceremonies were held at a number of locations throughout the country.

Sadly, the remains of many war dead are simply missing in Korea, as many fallen soldiers were never buried in marked graves.  Every once in a while, the remains of soldiers are found.  In September of 2010, the remains of a fallen soldier were returned to his family after they were discovered on a mountain in the PyeongChang region of South Korea.  (PyeongChang is the location of the upcoming 2018 winter Olympic games, which will be held in South Korea.)  According to the article reporting on this event, the remains of over 5000 fallen Korean soldiers have been discovered since 2002 alone.  And the government has returned some of these soldiers directly to their families, in what appears to be a break with the practice of burying fallen soldiers in military cemateries. 

Not long before this year's Memorial Day, the remains of fallen South Korean soldiers were returned home for the first time from North Korea.  But it was the US government, not the North Korean government, that returned these soldiers to South Korea.  Until recently, the United States government had been working to recover the remains of fallen US soldiers in North Korea.  The remains of South Korean soldiers were discovered in North Korea along with those of fallen US soldiers by the United States government, who then returned the South Korean soldiers home.  According to one article in which this news was reported, there could be as many as 40,000 South Korean soldiers lying in unmarked graves in North Korea.