SEOUL: Kang Jung-ai, the nominee for South Korea’s new veterans minister, pledged on Thursday to enhance support for individuals who have rendered distinguished service to the country. This commitment was made during a parliamentary confirmation hearing, following her nomination earlier this month to replace outgoing Veterans Minister Park Min-shik. The National Assembly later adopted a confirmation hearing report for Kang as the veterans minister.
According to Kang, her focus will be on rationalizing the compensation system for veterans and fundamentally changing the country’s veterans affairs policy. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has been dedicated to strengthening support for veterans, including upgrading the veterans ministry in June this year. The ministry currently offers compensation ranging from 568,000 won to about 6 million won a month to those who have served, including soldiers and police officers killed or injured in action. Kang, a former president of Sookmyung Women’s University, comes from a family of veterans, including her father, a recipient of the Order of Military Merit, and her grandfather-in-law, a member of the Heroic Corps during Japan’s colonial rule of Korea.