Ahead of the 10th West Sea Protection Day, the People's Power said it will take the lead in revising the law, including diversifying the criteria for judging people of national merit and establishing a living support fund for spouses.

Kwon Young-se, chairman of the People's Power Emergency Committee, said at a meeting of the emergency committee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 27th, "The people's power will protect the value of veterans by practice, not words," adding, "We will revise the law to diversify the criteria for judging people of national merit and to reflect the heroes' contributions more fairly."

The Act on Support for Persons of National Merit, recently proposed by Rep. Ko Dong-jin of the People's Power, calls for determining victims of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as "separate grades" so that they can be recognized as persons of national merit. This is because the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs ruled that eight soldiers who participated in the 1st Battle of Yeonpyeong did not have PTSD medical certificates, which were "not applicable" to the national merit.

The People's Power plans to fully expand "medical veterans' consignment hospitals" where people of national merit can receive medical benefits. The ruling party has also decided to take the lead in providing livelihood subsidies for spouses of war veterans.

[Reporter Park Chi Kyung]