Koreans affected by the confucian and topography ideas had preferred to bury bodies in propitious sites. On December 5th. 1961. the burial and cemetery Act was enacted and proclaimed so that National Assembly prevents the infection from bodies. uses the land effectively and serves public welfare. Since on January 12th. 2001. the Funeral Act was revised and declared. the Ministry of Health and Welfare has encouraged cremation.
Since on May 26th, 2008. the revised funeral act has allowed natural funeral to be started in Korea funeral culture. Natural funeral is the way ashes are buried under trees, flowering plants. or grass, which, therefore, needs some land. The spread of the funeral to place bones in charnel house also leads nation to obtain broad land so that many charnel houses are built. Government finally has let the Korea Forest Service lease the national owned land. Both funerals are all eco-friendly but they may cause some problems such as land shortage and environmental destruction.
For hundreds of years, we had sticked to the burial funeral of bodies. However, the burial funeral has been rapidly changed to cremation since the late 1990s. It does not take more than 10 years that the funeral Act revised the rules how to service the natural funeral. where to do it, and so on. It is the time that we have to make a new funeral service, "sea funeral-scattering at sea," in order to use land effectively.
I researched about "natural funeral after cremation" and "scattering ashes at sea" in my thesis, because I expect that cremation will be more expanded in the future. This thesis contains the definitions of the two funerals above, how to be done, and the needs of acting law. I not only researched on the actual condition how scattering ashes at sea is managed at home and abroad but also pointed out its problems such as environmental destruction based on the scientific materials. I would like to raise the awareness of "sea funeral" and hope that it can be developed as a common funeral culture without any difficulties.