Descendants of Heroes

[Anchor Lead]

Some independence fighters who were posthumously recognized for their contributions never received their medals because of the failure to find their descendants. The government is stepping up efforts to find the bereaved relatives of the lost heroes.

[Pkg]

Kim San-hae was arrested for planning an armed uprising in Jiandao in 1930. He served a three-year sentence at the Seodaemun Prison, but he did not live to see his contributions recognized up until his death in 1970.

[Soundbite] Kim Mi-ja(Daughter of Independence Fighter Kim San-hae) : "It's devastating to talk about the torture my father went through. I wanted to prove his contributions by all means."

More than a hundred people receive recognition as independence activists every year. But of some 14,000 independence fighters, more than 5,500 have yet to receive their medals, because their relatives cannot be found. Medals of independence fighters Lee Jae-myung and Chang In-hwan have been waiting for their owners for more than 50 years. Lee Jae-yong shot pro-Japanese minister Yi Wan-yong, while Chang In-hwan assassinated a diplomat who defended Japan's invasion of Korea.

[Soundbite] Cho Chul-haeng(Researcher, Min. of Patriots & Veterans Affairs) : "We have no means to reach people who have North Korean citizenship. Sometimes relatives have no idea that their ancestors were independence fighters."

A 70-year-old daughter of an independence fighter receives a medal on behalf of her father.

[Soundbite] Kim Mi-ja(Daughter of Independence Fighter Kim San-hae) : "I am sincerely grateful."

But only 24 descendants of independence activists received medals on this year's Liberation Day. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs has decided to hand over medals to more than one thousand relatives of independence fighters whose whereabouts have been found and step up the search for the remaining relatives.