Veterans’ honorarium varies by region

[Anchor]

Veterans who dedicated themselves to the country and participated in the Korean War receive a monthly honorarium for their service from the government and local authorities.

However, the amount received varies by region, leading to criticisms of unequal treatment.

Reporter Park Jun-woo investigated why this is the case.

[Report]

Kwak Jae-sik participated in the Korean War at the young age of 18 as part of the police special forces, and is now 93 years old.

He has been designated as a national veteran and receives a monthly veterans' honor allowance of 650,000 won from the government and local governments, but making a living is still tight.

Considering hospital expenses and other costs, he is worried.

[Kwak Jae-sik/Korean War veteran: "(Other veterans) are hospitalized and in nursing homes... (Nursing homes) seem to cost nearly 800,000 won a month, how can we manage with the allowance? We can't."]

The veterans' allowance supported by the government is uniformly 450,000 won per month.

However, the additional local government allowances vary widely.

In North Gyeongsang Province, for example, Uljin-gun provides a total of 400,000 won per month from provincial and city funds, while six other cities, including Goryeong, only provide 200,000 won.

Nationwide, three places, including Asan in South Chungcheong Province, offer 600,000 won per month, while three places, including Namwon in North Jeolla Province, only provide 120,000 won, a fivefold difference.

In particular, the allowance for spouses of deceased veterans varies from 250,000 won to none at all.

This is because local governments can arbitrarily set allowances based on their financial situation.

[Ministry of Veterans Affairs official/voice altered: "If there were a law, it would be enforced, but since there is no law yet, it is done as a recommendation. It’s being provided through a combination of small local government funds, allocated voluntarily by each region."]

President Lee Jae-myung pledged to reduce the disparities in veterans' allowances among local governments during his campaign.

A consistent veterans' policy is needed to ensure that those who sacrificed for one united nation are not treated differently based on where they live.

KBS News, Park Jun-woo.