Only 3 researchers assigned to collect historical records linked to Korea's independence movement
Portraits of 36 independence activists, including Kim Koo, Ahn Jung-geun and Yu Gwan-sun, are displayed in the show window of an art academy in Busan, Aug. 14.
The veterans ministry has assigned only three personnel to collect and review materials related to Korea's independence movement against Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule, data showed Friday, raising concerns over a shortage of personnel to sift through the vast amount of historical records.
Only three of the 37 personnel in the ministry's Patriots and Veterans Archives Management Division are tasked with collecting and managing records on the country's independence movement, the ministry told Yonhap News Agency.
"We typically collect some 300,000 records over the course of a year," a ministry official said, suggesting a possible disparity between the workload and the number of personnel assigned for the task.
Put simply, this means each researcher is responsible for handling some 100,000 historical records a year.
The revelation comes after the ministry earlier announced plans to honor more than 600 independence activists who have not previously been recognized by the state this year, up from 502 in 2025.
Separate data submitted to Rep. Kim Joon-hyung of the minor Rebuilding Korea Party showed that 21 personnel are tasked with reviewing historical records of independence activists who have yet to receive state honors.
The officials at the ministry's Patriots and Veterans Entitlement Division are responsible for collecting records on individuals involved in the country's independence movement to be considered by an evaluation committee that determines whether their contributions merit state honors.
"There is always a shortage of personnel," another ministry official told Yonhap News Agency. "At the same time, the amount of records linked to the independence movement that we have to go through continues to pile up, resulting in more potential independence activists being identified and recognized," the official added.
The ministry has identified and honored 408 independence fighters as of August.
An estimated 3 million people are believed to have fought for Korea's independence from Japanese colonial rule. Of them, only 19,059 have been officially recognized for their contributions and conferred state honors as of last month, accounting for less than 1 percent of the estimated total.