Applications for Victims and Bereaved Families of the Jeju Uprising to Reopen; Compensation Claims Extended to 2029

[Financial News]  Additional applications for victims and bereaved families of the Jeju uprising will reopen in February next year. Those who missed the eighth application period will be given another chance to file, and the deadline for compensation claims will also be extended by three years, from the end of this year to the end of 2029. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said on the 31st that the revised enforcement decree of the Jeju 4.3 Act will take effect on Sept. 1.
Under the revised decree, additional applications for victims and bereaved families of the Jeju uprising will be accepted for six months, from Feb. 1 to July 31, 2027. This will give another chance to those who were unable to apply after missing the eighth filing period. Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the Jeju 4.3 Bereaved Families Association proposed the additional filing to the government.
The application period for compensation for victims of the Jeju uprising will also be extended. The current deadline of Dec. 31, 2026, will be pushed back to Dec. 31, 2029. The filing window will remain open for three more years so that people recognized as victims through the additional application process can also claim compensation.
The deadline for applications to restore family relations will also be extended. In cases where family relation registers were not created because of damage from the Jeju uprising, or were recorded incorrectly, applications to create or correct the register, as well as applications for marriage and adoption registration, will be allowed for two more years, from Aug. 31 this year to Aug. 31, 2028.
The government currently recognizes 15,286 victims of the Jeju uprising and 128,295 bereaved family members. A total of 146,722 victims and family members have completed review, and 143,581 of them have been recognized.
The Jeju uprising refers to the unrest that began on April 3, 1948, following March 1, 1947, and to the armed clashes and suppression efforts carried out in Jeju until Sept. 21, 1954, during which residents were killed. Since the enactment of the Jeju 4.3 Special Act in 2000, the government has been carrying out procedures to recognize victims and bereaved families and restore their honor. In 2022, a legal basis for compensation was established, and in 2024, special provisions were introduced for marriage and adoption registration.
Minister of the Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung said, "We have once again reopened the door to applications so that even one more person can receive official recognition from the state and fair compensation."

[email protected] Lee Bo-mi Reporter