The Ministry of National Defense’s Agency for KIA Recovery & Identification announced that the remains of a soldier they excavated in a complete form from the Jupari area in Wonnam-myeon, Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon-do, last November have been identified as First Sergeant Jeong In-hak of the ROK Army’s 7th Division.
The late Sergeant Jeong, born in Jeongeup, Jeollabuk-do, was enlisted in September 1951 and was killed at the age of 20 in the “Jeokgeunsan-Samhyeon District Battle” in Cheorwon, Gangwon-do, two days before the armistice in July 1953.
He was the first identified among the 19 remains collectively excavated from the site, and he has been registered as the 249th identified heroic martyr since the start of the remains excavation project in April 2000.
The agency stated that a key clue to his identification was the dog tag with his name engraved on it that was found alongside the remains. Using this, they confirmed his military records and located his family to verify his identity through DNA comparison analysis.
The agency also mentioned that DNA sample collection applications are accepted nationwide from up to the eighth degree of kin, including the paternal and maternal sides of the deceased soldier’s family. A reward of 10 million won will be given if the soldier’s identity is confirmed using the DNA information provided by contributors.