Over 7,600 independence merit medals undelivered — with only 2 staff handling the backlog

Of 18,776 medals awarded to independence movement patriots, 7,628 have yet to be delivered to the recipients or their descendants, according to newly released government data.

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Min-gyu, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, disclosed the figures Tuesday based on materials submitted by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans.

Park said that because most independence patriots have already passed away, delivering undelivered medals requires tracing descendants through family registry records and other documents, followed by a review by a descendant verification committee. When no descendant can be identified through that process, the medal remains in storage at the ministry's archive of meritorious service records.

Breaking down the backlog by how long medals have gone undelivered: 2,437 cases involve waits of under 10 years; 2,666 cases fall in the 10-to-20-year range; and 796 cases span 20 to 30 years. A total of 1,729 medals — 22.7 percent of the total — have remained undelivered for more than 30 years, including 58 cases exceeding 50 years.

"The longer time passes, the harder it becomes to deliver these medals, yet the delivery work is moving slowly," Park said. "The number of dedicated staff was just one person through last year and has only grown to two this year." He called on the government to provide sufficient personnel and budget to ensure the medals reach their rightful owners as soon as possible.

"Delivering a medal is not a simple administrative procedure — it is the state's commitment to remembering and honoring the dedication and sacrifice of independence patriots to the very end," he added.

The 10 patriots whose medals have gone undelivered the longest are all recipients of the Order of Merit for National Foundation awarded in 1962. They include Oh Dong-jin, who led the Korean Liberation Army's general headquarters and received the Republic of Korea Medal; Lee Jae-myung, who attempted to assassinate pro-Japanese collaborator Lee Wan-yong and received the Presidential Medal; and Jo Do-seon, who took part in independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun's armed action and received the Independence Medal.

By reason for non-delivery, "unidentified descendants (including unknown whereabouts)" accounted for the largest share at 3,665 cases, or 48 percent of the total. "North Korean family registry origin" followed at 3,114 cases, and "emigration abroad" at 270 cases. A significant number of additional cases involve patriots who left no descendants or were foreign nationals, making delivery difficult.

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans has continued a project to locate descendants and deliver unawarded decorations, but over the past five years — from 2021 through 2025 — the annual average number of medals successfully delivered was no more than 41.4. In the first half of this year, only 20 were delivered.