In South Korea, where Confucianism-based interment has long been the tradition, the graves of ancestors are concentrated on hills, creating a unique view. But as residents move from city centers to suburbs and expanding cities, demand for land has grown. Amidst such a backdrop, many existing cemeteries on hilltops are now being asked to relocate or even remove graves. In addition, stronger environmental concerns have led to government authorities moving toward banning interment and promoting cremation and scattering of ashes to reduce the number of trees being cut down on national land to make room for a potential increase in cemeteries.

The plight of South Korean cineraria

Like Japan, South Korea is also seeing a higher demand for cineraria due to a lack of land aggravated by population density, a rapidly aging society and declining birth rate as well as the widening income gap triggered by economic development. Amidst this situation, cineraria are being built in the suburbs of Seoul, but many of them consist of fixed-style locker types or wall-mounted units. Compared to Japanese cineraria styles, these South Korean models are more than ten years behind. These models lack affinity and do not allow worshippers to relax as they worship their ancestors because the low or high location of fixed units make it difficult for visitors to position their bodies. These models also have storage inefficiency and safety concerns.