Eight Rounds Still in the Magazine... Personal Belongings of Korean War Casualties Restored

Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center Restores 81 Artifacts
Additional 74 Items to Be Preserved by End of Next Year

Eighty-one personal belongings of Korean War (6·25 War) casualties have been restored to their original state.

Preserved M1 rifle of the late Private First Class Cho Young-ho.

The Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage announced on June 25 that it had preserved and delivered the personal belongings of five fallen soldiers, including the late Sergeant Jo Dohyung, to the Ministry of National Defense Agency for KIA Recovery & Identification. This marks the culmination of a three-year project that began in 2023. Following a business agreement signed in July last year, the team selected and preserved the belongings of identified casualties first.

The research team restored personal items such as military rank insignias, firearms, helmet accessories, and emergency medical kits to their original state. By identifying the 'UNITED' engraving and coating materials on helmet accessories, they also determined the country of manufacture and the supply period.

The firearms especially retained vivid traces of the battlefield. Notably, the M1 Garand rifle of the late Private First Class Jo Youngho, who was 24 at the time, was found with the safety still engaged and eight rounds remaining in the magazine.

The Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center plans to preserve an additional seventy-four items—including the belongings of six more identified soldiers, large firearms, and black-and-white photographs—by the end of next year. An official stated, "If the clarity of some individuals' faces in photographs improves through conservation, there is hope that their identities can be determined."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.