Lee Jae Myung says paying full respects to those killed in service is important 'social duty'

President Lee Jae Myung said Saturday honoring and paying due respects to those killed while serving the country is a social duty the nation should uphold.

Lee made the remarks in a speech at a Memorial Day ceremony, a national holiday commemorating those who sacrificed themselves while serving the country, including those who fought for independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea.

Saturday's ceremony at Seoul National Cemetery was attended by 3,000 uniformed service members, government officials, national merit recipients and their families.

Among the attendees were the family members of a 34-year-old Coast Guard officer who was killed last year while trying to rescue a person from a tidal flat, as well as the families of two service members killed in an Army helicopter crash in February. "Commemorating the spirit of the patriots and paying them full respect is a social duty that we should faithfully uphold," the president said.

The president highlighted the enactment next year of a law expanding benefits for the families of independence fighters, saying the government is al