The recovery of remaining of KIA(Killed in Action) symbolizes the ethical and political aspect of civil society. Therefore The Korean War (also known as 6.25) is important in recognizing identity and human rights of Korean civility.
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary since the Korean War, Korean government initiated to excavate the remains of KIA from the Koran War. During the year 2001~2006 excavation total 1482 KIA are recovered around the southern part of Korean peninsula.
Based on the bones remains anthropological researches including the determination sex, the estimation of age, and stature have been carried out. Metric and non -metric characteristics have also been examined.
All KIA remains are determined as male mainly based on the characteristic feature of the innominate bone. The estimation of age is gained from 844 individuals. Over 64% of the KIA were estimated between the age 20-24 years old and almost 20% were between 15-19 years old. From this data it has been conformed that the majority of KIA can be classified as being in a young age category. Total 493 individuals are examined for the estimation of statures. Approximately 68% of the findings were estimated to have been between the height 160~17Ocm(average: 165cm) in proportion, and almost 14of findings were below 160cm tall. Up to now, 1176 individuals have been verified to be Korean army and 306 individuals to be belonged to the North Korean and/or Chinese soldiers. A total 50 individual names were identified, and among them 20 soldiers have been conformed.
Finally, in another words, by accepting and learning our past mistakes, the recovery of remains of KIA occurred by the Korean War will be the foundation of identity and unification of North and South Korea.