Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (South Korea)
The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs is a government ministry of South Korea which handles veterans. It was established in August 1961 as the Soldiers' Affairs Agency.
| Minister | Period | |
| 1st | Min Byong-kwon | Jul 6, 1961 – Jan 31, 1963 |
| 2nd | Yoon Young-mo | Feb 1, 1963 ~ May 10, 1964 |
| 3rd | Kim Byung-sam | May 11, 1964 – May 15, 1965 |
| 4th | Park Ki-suk | May 16, 1965 – Dec 21, 1970 |
| 5th | Chang Dong-won | Dec 22, 1970 – Oct 18, 1973 |
| 6th | Yoo Kun-chang | Oct 19, 1973 – Dec 20, 1977 |
| 7th | Kim Jae-myong | Dec 21, 1977 – May 22, 1980 |
| 8th | Lee Jong-ho | May 23, 1980 – Oct 15, 1983 |
| 9th | Cho Chul-kwon | Oct 16, 1983 – Feb 18, 1985 |
| 10th | Choi Jong-ho | Feb 19, 1985 – Jan 7, 1986 |
| 11th | Kim Keun-soo | Jan 8, 1986 – Feb 24, 1988 |
| 12th | Jun Suk-hong | Feb 25, 1988 – Dec 5, 1988 |
| 13th | Lee Sang-yeon | Dec 6, 1988 – Dec 26, 1990 |
| 14th | Min Gyung-bae | Dec 27, 1990 – Feb 25, 1993 |
| 15th | Rhee Byoung-tae | Feb 26, 1993 – Dec 21, 1993 |
| 16th | Lee Chung-kil | Dec 22, 1993 – Dec 23, 1994 |
| 17th | Hwang Chang-pyeong | Dec 24, 1994 – Dec 19, 1996 |
| 18th | Oh Jung-so | Dec 20, 1996 – Mar 5, 1997 |
| 19th | Park Sang-bum | Mar 6, 1997 – Mar 3, 1998 |
| 20th | Kim Eui-jae | Mar 9, 1998 – Mar 2, 1999 |
| 21st | Choi Kyu-hak | Mar 6, 1999 – Aug 28, 2000 |
| 22nd | Kim Yoo-bae | Aug 29, 2000 – Apr 1, 2001 |
| 23rd | Lee Jae-dal | Apr 2, 2001 – Mar 2, 2003 |
| 24th | An Joo-seob | Mar 3, 2003 – Sep 23, 2004 |
| 25th | Park Yu-chul | Sep 24, 2004 – Apr 19, 2007 |
| 26th | Kim Jung-bok | Apr 20, 2007 – Feb 28, 2008 |
| 27th | Kim Yang | Mar 3, 2009 – Feb 23, 2011 |
| 28th | Park sung-choon | Feb 24, 2011 – May 11, 2017 |
| 29th | Pi Woo-jin | May 17, 2017 – Aug 15, 2019 |
| 30th | Park Sam-duk | Aug 16, 2019 – incumbent |
Timeline
- July 5, 1961 – Act for Establishment of Military Relief Administration enacted
- May 12, 1962 – Veterans Office Military Relief Office was renamed to Veterans Office, and branch office became regional offices, and 25 local agencies were upgraded to district offices
- January 1, 1985 – Veterans Affairs Agency became Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, regional offices became regional veterans offices or branch veterans offices, and Veterans Committee 4.19 Cemetery Management Office was created
- February 19, 1993 – The posts of Director-Generals of Veterans Policy and Veterans Promotion were created
- January 28, 1995 – 4.19 Cemetery Management Office was created
- September 14, 2002 – City-administered 5.18 cemetery Office and 3.15 cemetery Office were transferred to MPVA and two cemeteries’ level was elevated to national cemetery from municipal cemetery
- May 24, 2004 – The Veterans Bureau was newly established to help veterans make a smoother transition to civilian life
- May 18, 2005 – The Independence Hall was transferred to MPVA from Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
- January 26, 2006 – The Daejeon National Cemetery was transferred to MPVA from Ministry of Defense
- January 14, 2007 – Veterans Centers in Seoul, Busan, Daejeon were created
- July 7, 2011 – Veterans Center in Gyeonggi Province was created
- July 28, 2017 – The status of the MPVA Minister was elevated from vice-ministerial to ministerial level.