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Two brothers killed in the Korean War will be posthumously reunited after the military recently recovered the younger sibling’s remains. They will be buried together at the Seoul National Cemetery soon.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, a special team searching for soldiers killed in the war recovered the remains of a soldier last October near Mount Baekseok in Yanggu, Gangwon. After DNA analysis, the body was identified as Sgt. Lee Cheon-wu, who joined the Army in September 1950, following his older brother Man-wu.
“Sergeant Lee was 19 years old when he joined the military, one month after his elder brother,” said Col. Park Sin-han, head of the remains recovery project. “To protect this country, the two soldiers walked 3,400 kilometers [2,113 miles], fighting in battles to enter Pyongyang and to recover Seoul. They served in different units, and sadly never encountered each other during the war.”
Park said the elder brother, who was a 20-year-old staff sergeant, was killed in action in Gyeonggi in May 1951. Only four months later, his brother was killed in Gangwon.
Based on military records, Sergeant Lee was believed to be a brave soldier, the Defense Ministry said in a press release, noting that he was awarded two posthumous honors in 1954, though his remains were unrecovered.
In contrast, the elder brother’s body was recovered and laid to rest in the Seoul National Cemetery in 1960, but his family was never informed. The brothers’ parents and remaining siblings have since died. The only surviving family member is a nephew, Lee Myeong-deok, 60, who lives in Busan.
After the ministry informed the nephew it had located the grave of the elder brother and recovered the remains of the younger, he expressed the desire that his two uncles be laid to rest together after 60 years apart.
“I still remember the grief of my grandmother having lost two sons in battle and not knowing where their bodies ended up,” Lee Myeong-deok said. “I am so happy to finally know what happened to my two uncles.”
Colonel Park and senior military officials yesterday delivered to Lee a letter of condolence issued by Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin to inform him of the identification of the younger uncle, along with some recovered belongings, including bullets, a button and Lee’s dog tag. “Although it may be belated, the delivery of the letter to his home was a way of paying the nation’s utmost respect to its citizens for having sent their sons into the military,” said Park.
“All remains recovered and identified through our recovery efforts will be handled in the same way, and the same respect will be paid to families,” he said. “This is an expression of the government’s will to appreciate the sacrifices of the fallen soldiers and their families, and a promise that no remains will be left in this soil without proper treatment.”
According to Kim Il-saeng, deputy minister for personnel and welfare, the government began recovering remains of soldiers killed in the Korean War in 2000. In 11 years, 4,700 remains were recovered, along with the remains of 800 enemy soldiers.
During the 1950-53 Korean War, 140,000 South Korean soldiers were killed, while 82,000 are listed as missing in action.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, a special team searching for soldiers killed in the war recovered the remains of a soldier last October near Mount Baekseok in Yanggu, Gangwon. After DNA analysis, the body was identified as Sgt. Lee Cheon-wu, who joined the Army in September 1950, following his older brother Man-wu.
“Sergeant Lee was 19 years old when he joined the military, one month after his elder brother,” said Col. Park Sin-han, head of the remains recovery project. “To protect this country, the two soldiers walked 3,400 kilometers [2,113 miles], fighting in battles to enter Pyongyang and to recover Seoul. They served in different units, and sadly never encountered each other during the war.”
Park said the elder brother, who was a 20-year-old staff sergeant, was killed in action in Gyeonggi in May 1951. Only four months later, his brother was killed in Gangwon.
Based on military records, Sergeant Lee was believed to be a brave soldier, the Defense Ministry said in a press release, noting that he was awarded two posthumous honors in 1954, though his remains were unrecovered.
In contrast, the elder brother’s body was recovered and laid to rest in the Seoul National Cemetery in 1960, but his family was never informed. The brothers’ parents and remaining siblings have since died. The only surviving family member is a nephew, Lee Myeong-deok, 60, who lives in Busan.
After the ministry informed the nephew it had located the grave of the elder brother and recovered the remains of the younger, he expressed the desire that his two uncles be laid to rest together after 60 years apart.
“I still remember the grief of my grandmother having lost two sons in battle and not knowing where their bodies ended up,” Lee Myeong-deok said. “I am so happy to finally know what happened to my two uncles.”
Colonel Park and senior military officials yesterday delivered to Lee a letter of condolence issued by Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin to inform him of the identification of the younger uncle, along with some recovered belongings, including bullets, a button and Lee’s dog tag. “Although it may be belated, the delivery of the letter to his home was a way of paying the nation’s utmost respect to its citizens for having sent their sons into the military,” said Park.
“All remains recovered and identified through our recovery efforts will be handled in the same way, and the same respect will be paid to families,” he said. “This is an expression of the government’s will to appreciate the sacrifices of the fallen soldiers and their families, and a promise that no remains will be left in this soil without proper treatment.”
According to Kim Il-saeng, deputy minister for personnel and welfare, the government began recovering remains of soldiers killed in the Korean War in 2000. In 11 years, 4,700 remains were recovered, along with the remains of 800 enemy soldiers.
During the 1950-53 Korean War, 140,000 South Korean soldiers were killed, while 82,000 are listed as missing in action.
