Hana Financial Group will work with the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to refurbish aging headstones at the National Cemetery and improve the environment for visitors paying their respects.

Hana Financial said on Tuesday it signed a business agreement with the ministry on Aug. 10 at Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak district to improve cemetery grounds and the visiting environment, marking the 81st anniversary of liberation.

The agreement was designed to refurbish aging headstones to enhance respect for national merit recipients and improve the visiting environment for bereaved families and visitors.

Hana Financial will carry out maintenance work on about 2,000 aging stone markers in areas including the patriots' section at Daejeon National Cemetery and the service members' section at Seoul National Cemetery.

Seoul National Cemetery was built more than 70 years ago and has many stone markers in need of maintenance. Graves without direct descendants are also increasing due to the deaths of immediate family members. Hana Financial plans to carry out repainting, joint repairs and stain removal.

It also plans to expand facilities for visitors. It will install 10 smart shade shelters at Daejeon National Cemetery and 5 at Seoul National Cemetery, for a total of 15.

The smart shade shelters will be installed mainly along visitor routes and around spaces where people wait for shuttle buses. They use solar power and automatically open and close by detecting temperature and wind speed, and they also have remote-control functions.

Young-joo Ham (함영주), chairman of Hana Financial, said, "We will continue to fulfill finance's social responsibility through practical support that helps national merit recipients and their families, with gratitude and respect."