Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
90-year-old war veteran receives recognition
By Jun Ji-hye
A Korean War veteran, 90, has finally received recognition for his service to the nation 61 years after he was discharged from the Army.
According to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), Tuesday, Seo Jung-yeol joined the Army in 1947, three years before North Korea launched a surprise attack against the South.
Seo went into a number of battles and was injured in August 1950 in Yeongdeok, North Gyeongsang Province. While in hospital, he realized his military registration record contained mistakes, saying he joined the Army in 1949 and his name was Kim Chil-seok.
“The military serial number was identical ― 1505872, but the name was different,” Seo told reporters.
Nobody helped him correct the information during the war.
After recovery, he returned to the battlefield, but was shot in the head and chest in July 1951, in a battle in Gangwon Province. He was discharged in 1954.
He had to live with the wrong name, Kim Chil-seok, until 1969 when residents were assigned registration numbers. It was then that he regained his real name, Seo Jung-yeol.
But he could not correct the military registration record. His argument that a citizen named Seo Jung-yeol and a former soldier named Kim Chil-seok were the same person was not accepted.
Seo’s children filed a complaint with the ACRC, which concluded that Seo and Kim are not two people, given that the wounds registered in both were identical, and fragments of metal still exist in Seo’s head.
The ACRC also cited that elementary school student records of Seo’s children stated the name of their father was Kim Chil-seok.
The organization asked the Army to review the correction of Seo’s personal record, which the latter accepted.
The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs registered Seo as a national meritorious man. Seo will receive compensation given to men of national merit from this month.
After recovering his honor as a war veteran, Seo visited old sites of battles and paid his respects to the fallen colleagues.
“Everyone died in agony,” he said. “I prayed to them for protecting our soldiers.”
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