# Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA; Korean: 국가보훈부; Hanja: 國家報勳部) is a ministry under the Government of South Korea which manages affairs relating to veterans. It was established in August 1961 as the Veterans Affairs Agency.

## List of ministers

List of ministers :
| No. | Minister | Period |
| 1st | Min Byong-kwon | 6 July 1961 – 31 January 1963 |
| 2nd | Yoon Young-mo | 1 February 1963 - 10 May 1964 |
| 3rd | Kim Byung-sam | 11 May 1964 – 15 May 1965 |
| 4th | Park Ki-suk | 16 May 1965 – 21 December 1970 |
| 5th | Chang Dong-won | 22 December 1970 – 18 October 1973 |
| 6th | Yoo Kun-chang | 19 October 1973 – 20 December 1977 |
| 7th | Kim Jae-myong | 21 December 1977 – 22 May 1980 |
| 8th | Lee Jong-ho | 23 May 1980 – 15 October 1983 |
| 9th | Cho Chul-kwon | 16 October 1983 – 18 February 1985 |
| 10th | Choi Jong-ho | 19 February 1985 – 7 January 1986 |
| 11th | Kim Keun-soo | 8 January 1986 – 24 February 1988 |
| 12th | Jun Suk-hong | 25 February 1988 – 5 December 1988 |
| 13th | Lee Sang-yeon | 6 December 1988 – 26 December 1990 |
| 14th | Min Gyung-bae | 27 December 1990 – 25 February 1993 |
| 15th | Rhee Byoung-tae | 26 February 1993 – 21 December 1993 |
| 16th | Lee Chung-kil | 22 December 1993 – 23 December 1994 |
| 17th | Hwang Chang-pyeong | 24 December 1994 – 19 December 1996 |
| 18th | Oh Jung-so | 20 December 1996 – 5 March 1997 |
| 19th | Park Sang-bum | 6 March 1997 – 3 March 1998 |
| 20th | Kim Eui-jae | 9 March 1998 – 2 March 1999 |
| 21st | Choi Kyu-hak | 6 March 1999 – 28 August 2000 |
| 22nd | Kim Yoo-bae | 29 August 2000 – 1 April 2001 |
| 23rd | Lee Jae-dal | 2 April 2001 – 2 March 2003 |
| 24th | An Joo-seob | 3 March 2003 – 23 September 2004 |
| 25th | Park Yu-chul | 24 September 2004 – 19 April 2007 |
| 26th | Kim Jung-bok | 20 April 2007 – 28 February 2008 |
| 27th | Kim Yang [ko] | 3 March 2009 – 23 February 2011 |
| 28th | Park sung-choon | 24 February 2011 – 11 May 2017 |
| 29th | Pi Woo-jin | 17 May 2017 – 15 August 2019 |
| 30th | Park Sam-duk | 16 August 2019 – 30 December 2020 |
| 31st | Hwang Ki-chul | 31 December 2020 – 12 May 2022 |
| 32nd | Park Min-shik | 12 May 2022 – 26 December 2023 |
| 33nd | Kang Jung-ai | 26 December 2023 - incumbent |

## Timeline

* 5 July 1961 – Act for Establishment of Military Relief Administration enacted
* 12 May 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
* 1 January 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
* 19 February 1993 – The posts of Director-Generals of Veterans Policy and Veterans Promotion were created
* 28 January 1995 – 4.19 Cemetery Management Office was created
* 14 September 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
* 24 May 2004 – The Veterans Bureau was newly established to help veterans make a smoother transition to civilian life
* 18 May 2005 – The Independence Hall was transferred to MPVA from Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
* 26 January 2006 – The Daejeon National Cemetery was transferred to MPVA from Ministry of Defense
* 14 January 2007 – Veterans Centers in Seoul, Busan, Daejeon were created
* 7 July 2011 – Veterans Center in Gyeonggi Province was created
* 28 July 2017 – The status of the MPVA Minister was elevated from vice-ministerial to ministerial level
* 5 June 2023 – The status of the MPVA Minister was elevated to a full member of State Council of the Republic of Korea from its attendee. The MPVA's Korean name is changed to 국가보훈부 from 국가보훈처.