With Chuseok just around the corner, it is time to visit the ancestral graves. Seongmyo — the Korean word referring to the visit to the ancestral graves—is a Korean traditional activity done during Chuseok. Families mow the grass and pull up weeds on the burial mound annually on this Seongmyo day. The spirit underlying the tradition—to remember and respect the ancestors—is beautiful and must be valued, and yet there is a need for Koreans to seek an efficient and eco-friendly way of returning to nature.

 

The building of the burial mounds is a huge issue in Korean society considering the use of land. The burial mounds over 100 thousand ha of land, which is one percent of Korea territory, and every year 900 ha—1.2 times of the territory of Yeouido—is further consumed as burial mounds. Considering the upcoming demise of the baby boomers there is truly the need to find another way of funeral.

 

Not only is the building of burial mounds an inefficient use of land, it is also the cause of massive environmental destruction. As the burial mounds are built on mountains, trees have to be cut down to make space and this means the loss of countless high quality timber in the future. Moreover, the materials buried can also cause destruction. Conventional embalming fluid contains a number of chemicals including methanol, ethanol, and formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is a suspected carcinogen that is linked to nasal and lung cancer. Not to mention the coffins that waste high quality timber resources, the burying of the body after the embalming process is also extremely destructive to the ecosystem.

 

Due to strong Confucian beliefs that exist deep under Korean society, building a burial mound was considered the best way to serve for the deceased parents, and cremation was considered a cruel thing to do. However it has been reported that today, many people prefer cremation over being buried. Even so, with the tradition still intact, it is common for the descendants to choose to build burial mounds for their parents. However, it is time for Koreans to face reality and find an alternative.

 

The most desirable is to choose natural burial. Natural burial is an option after cremation—the cremated remains are scattered around a given tree. In a natural burial, no trees are cut down, and the deceased is buried in a way that does not inhibit decomposition—it does not require the embalming process—and allows the body to be recycled naturally. It therefore has little negative impact on the environment around.

 

On top of reserving the environmental concerns, the cost-effectiveness of choosing natural burials cannot go unobserved. The cost of building a burial mound starts from around ten million won, and proper maintenance usually adds on the purchasing price. On the other hand, a luxurious natural burial costs around 700 thousand won, less than a tenth of the cost of building a burial mound, and there is no additional maintenance cost. It is a method that saves a fortune for the descendants.