Korean Memorial Day 2022 – 5 Things We Want to Share

June 6, 2022 marks 67th Memorial Day of Korea. This day is called ‘Hyunchungil’ (pronounced with ‘Hyun-chung-il’) in Korean. Today, we’d like to share what this day means to Koreans and how we spend the day.

1. The Meaning Behind the Korean Word ‘Hyunchung-il (현충일)’.
   ‘Il’ means ‘day’ in Korean. Then, ‘Hyunchung-Il’ means, ‘Hyunchung-day.’ ‘Hyunchung’ means ‘Praising the loyalty and/or loyal patriotic matryls.’ Korean Memorial Day (Hyunchung-il) is the sixth day of June. This day commemorates those who died during the Korean War and other national conflicts.
2. Why is the Korean Memorial Day in June?
   Reason 1 – The Korean War happened on June 25th. To commemorate this, the month of June is called ‘Memorial Month’ in Korea.
   
   Reason 2 – June 6th is related to the time for the barley harvest season. This time of the year is regarded as the best day to start the rice and barley crop. Korea has chosen this golden time to plan and think about better future of the nation.
   
3. Korean Memorial Day is NOT the National Holiday But Still the Korean Public Holiday.
   Why is this something that we want to share? Because, Korean Memorial Day is NOT the national holiday, but the legal anniversary day. National holidays are the days that are celebrated in Korea (There are 5 of them : Korean Language Hangeul Day, Liberation Day, National Foundation Day, Constitution Day, Independence Movement Day). However, Korean Memorial Day is a legal anniversary day. There are 48 legal anniversary days in Korea, and not all of them are public holidays.
   
4. Every 10am on June 6th, You Hear Siren Sound for 1 Minute.
   This siren sounds like the civil defense drill. However do not get shock, because this sound is for the moment of silence (silent tribute) for the people who died for our nation. For this 1 minute, every car stops on the road, too.
5. Displaying the Korean Flag at Half Staff.
   As this day is to commemorate not celebrate, the Korean flag is flown at half staff as a condolence of the tragedy.

Left is when the Korean flag (Tae-geuk-gi) is normally flown; Right one is at half staff (when commemorating the Korean Memorial Day)

“A nation that forgets its past has no future. We won’t forget.”

— June 6th, Memorial Day of Korea

Take some time to watch this video below. Korean woman saying thanks to the US veteran who fought for the Korean War.

Click Here to Watch ???? (LINK)

???? Discussion for Today’s Topic :

How do you spend your national memorial day (if any)? How does history of your country mean to you?

Please feel free to share your thoughts with us!