▲ Korea Veteran Family Organization : KVFO / President Jeong Song-hak

You are eligible to join the Korea Veteran Family Organization if three of your family members served or is serving in the military in a row. This includes civilians who fought in the Korean War or belonged to the Korean Liberation Army under the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.

The Korea Military Manpower Administration appoints families served in the military based on the number of family members and rewards them May or June every year.

In line with this appointment, and also to promote their pride, the Korea Veteran Family Organization set sail in 2012 and was approved as a donation organization by the Ministry of Economy and Finance in March 2017. 

KVFO carries out researches and seminars on military service policy, welfare policy and promotional events such as tours and activities and currently is running 13 regional offices. The festival organized by KVFO every year invites members of the organization to concerts, tours and rewards ceremony.

This year, 1,017 families have been appointed for the KVFO and the total members of the KVFO is 32,376 individuals of 6,395 families as of November 2020. 

KVFO president Jeong Song-hak majored in law at Chosun University and obtained both master's and doctor's degrees in law at Hanyang University. He started to work for Fuji Xerox Korea in 1978 and took a number of important roles. 

From 2006 to 2010, he served as Mayor of Gwangjin District, Seoul. He also served as a standing auditor of the Korea Asset Management Corp, head of the Liberty Korea Party Gwangjin and a professor at Hanyang University Graduate School of Social Science and Public Policy. 

His father fought in the Korean War and received honors. Jeong joined the military in October 1975 and served at the 88th Infantry Division for 31 months. His son did his military service in Cheorwon, Gwangwon Province. The family was awarded for the KVFO in 2012 followed by his uncles family too.

"Doing one's military duty is very important as Korea is still divided into two. I strongly believe that those who have fulfilled their military service must be the leaders of the society only" emphasizes Jeong.

Jeong shows his regret that there is not yet an act that states a support for the families served in the military for three generations and the budget of the KVFO comes from the Military Manpower Administration in limited amount. To improve the financial difficulty, Jeong is working on appealing the need to introduce an act to lawmakers. He already has met the head of the Military Manpower Administration and explained the need of introducing an act and asked support.

"I and the members of the KVFO will make it happen so that we can better protect rights and interests of families served in the military for three generations. In fact, this is not only about our rights and interests but about promoting the importance of doing one's military duty with pride and honor for his/her country."