Veterans minister vows to transform Seoul National Cemetery into more visitor-friendly site

Veterans Minister Park Min-shik, center, speaks to reporters at the defense ministry headquarters in central Seoul, Dec. 20. Yonhap

Veterans Minister Park Min-shik pledged Wednesday to recreate the Seoul National Cemetery into a more accessible and visitor-friendly site by pushing for major infrastructure projects nearby and installing additional memorial facilities.

Park outlined plans to revamp the cemetery in southern Seoul to draw more visitors and recreate it into the "world's best memorial site" once his ministry takes over its management from the defense ministry.

"We plan to make the Seoul National Cemetery ... as a symbolic place of culture, rest and healing for not only our public but for foreigners as well and into a sacred place for patriots and veterans of the Republic of Korea together with the people," he said in a briefing, using Korea's official name.

The Seoul National Cemetery has been under the administration of the defense ministry since it was created in 1956, but the veterans ministry has been pushing for its management since it was upgraded to a full-fledged ministry in June.

A bill on the transfer is expected to be approved by the National Assembly either this week or next week, Park said, noting that there is no opposition from either the ruling or opposition parties.

Once transferred, Park said the veterans ministry will seek to turn the current eight-lane road near the cemetery into an underground one. It also plans to create a direct path connecting the cemetery to the nearby Dongjak Station for better accessibility.

The ministry also seeks to install more facilities to revamp the site, such as a concert venue and a water feature akin to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington.

Park, a former two-term lawmaker, is set to leave office as Kang Jung-ai, a former university chief, was tapped to replace him earlier this month. (Yonhap)