Local governments endeavor to attract crematorium as demand for cremation increases

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As the country’s cremation rate reaches about 92 percent, cremation facilities, which have been recognized as "hate facilities," are being treated as "precious facilities." There are cases of local governments cooperating with each other to jointly use cremation facilities and compete for the construction of them to develop their regions.

Geoje and Tongyeong announced on September 18, “From October 1, citizens in Geoje will be able to use the public cremation facility at Tongyeong Memorial Park on the same basis as people living in Tongyeong.” Geoje citizens used to pay 800,000 won to use the crematorium in Tongyeong. However, from the first of next month, they will only have to pay 100,000 won. The annual operating expenses of the crematorium will be shared by the two local governments in proportion to the number of users. Geoje will pay 9.9 billion won to improve the cremation facilities in Tongyeong.

As cremation increases, demand for cremation facilities is also on the rise. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as of the end of 2022, there were 62 cremation facilities (383 cremators) nationwide, and the cremation rate reached 91.7 percent. Gyeonggi Province (4 cremation facilities, 48 cremators), Seoul (2 facilities, 34 cremators), Busan (1 facility, 15 cremators), and Daegu (1 facility, 11 cremators) lack crematoriums compared to demand.

Local governments are responding to the demand by sharing cremation facilities. Since February, three cities and counties, Namwon, Sunchang-gun, and Imsil-gun, in North Jeolla Province, have jointly used the cremation facility at Seunghwawon in Namwon. Donghae and Samcheok, in Gangwon Province, Wonju, Yeoju, and Hungseong-gun, and Chuncheon and Hongcheon-gun have already built cremation facilities and operated them jointly.

There is also competition to attract cremation facilities. Geochang-gun, South Gyeongsang Province, launched a contest to build a cremation facility in May. Nine villages applied and competed, and Daeya Village in Namha-myeon was finally selected. The village was agreed by 97 percent of residents. At the time of the contest, Geochang-gun decided to provide the host area 6 billion won in support and 20 percent of the crematorium's income for 10 years. It also decided to provide the right to operate auxiliary facilities and jobs for residents. “Visiting crematoriums in other regions has changed the perception of residents,” said Shin Gui-ja, the head of Daeya Village.

In June, Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, selected Guryongpo-eup as the site for a new memorial park, including a cremation facility and a charnel house. A total of seven villages applied for the four-month contest, which was conducted after the city proposed a support plan worth 21 billion won. Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, also selected Bangseong 1-ri as a finalist among five villages that applied for a project to build a comprehensive funeral facility, including a cremation facility, last December. Yangju decided to invest 10 billion won in the village and 30 billion won in neighboring villages, totaling 40 billion won.

Yangsan, which has a population of 350,000 but no cremation facilities, is contesting a candidate site for the construction of an eco-friendly funeral facility for three months from June to the 23rd of this month. The demand for a crematorium followed after local residents suffered inconvenience while searching for crematoriums in Busan and Ulsan during the coronavirus pandemic. Yangsan decided to provide up to 15 billion won to the host area, and areas, towns, counties, and districts within a radius of 1 kilometer of the facility. “We have received a steady stream of calls asking about the size of the benefit for each village and the qualifications and criteria for applying,” said a Yangsan city official.

Kim Myung-yong, a law professor at Changwon National University, said, "The change in perception of the need for crematoriums and charnel houses is accelerating. If the funeral culture changes rapidly, conflicts and disputes will naturally decrease.”

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.