As the Seoul National Cemetery was reaching capacity in the early 1970s, on 16 December 1974, then PresidentPark Chung-hee ordered that investigations commence for the establishment of a new national cemetery site. The Daejeon site was selected on 14 April 1976. Construction of the cemetery began on 1 April 1979 and the first burial took place on 27 August 1982. The cemetery was officially inaugurated on 13 November 1985.
The cemetery covers an area of 3,300,150 m2 and facilities include a Memorial Tower and Memorial Gate, Patriotic Spirit Exhibition Center, an outdoor exhibition space, fountains, statues, sculptures, pavilions, and Hyeonchungji, a man-made pond in the shape of the Korean Peninsula.[2]
The cemetery allows access to the public.
Baseline of usage
The President, the President of the National Assembly
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or the President of the Constitutional Court
The person who died as a patriotic branch and the patriotic line-up in accordance with Article 4 of the Act on the Honorable Treatment of independent Beneficiaries.
Notable burials
Hong Beom-do (1868-1943), a Korean independence fighter who died and was buried in Kazakhstan, with his body repatriated to his homeland 78 years later[3]
Sohn Kee-chung (1912–2002), first Korean to win a medal at the Olympic Games
Hwang Jang-yop (1923–2010), highest-ranking North Korean politician who defected to South Korea in 1997
Choi Kyu-hah (1919–2006), fourth President of South Korea
Hong Gi (1916–2004), wife of former president Choi
^* Son, Sae-il (2 January 2007), "孫世一의 비교 傳記 (58)" [Son Sae-il's Comparative Critical Biography (58)], Monthly Chosun (in Korean), archived from the original on 27 February 2023, retrieved 1 May 2023
