The Order of Merit for National Foundation (Korean: 건국훈장) is one of South Korea's orders of merit. It is awarded by the President of South Korea for "outstanding meritorious services in the interest of founding or laying a foundation for the Republic of Korea."[1] The Order was originally established under a slightly different name 건국공로훈장 (建國功勞勳章) by Presidential Decree #82, on Apr. 27, 1949, and is the oldest Order of the Republic of Korea. On January 16, 1967, there were major changes made to the Order of National Foundation under Presidential Decree #2929. The name of the Order was shortened from 건국공로훈장 (建國功勞勳章) to 건국훈장 (建國勳章), and all three classes got new names and designs.[2]
Grades
The Order of Merit for National Foundation is awarded in five grades.[3]
Grade
Name
Ribbon
1st
Republic of Korea Medal (대한민국장)
2nd
Presidential Medal (대통령장)
3rd
Independence Medal (독립장)
4th
Patriotic Medal (애국장)
5th
National Medal (애족장)
Recipients
By 2005 about 8,000 people had received the Order.[4] Many of its recipients have only been awarded the Order posthumously, often because they died before it was established; these include Kim Ku, An Jung-geun, and Cho Man-sik.
