| Order of Merit for National Foundation | |
|---|---|
 3rd Grade Order of Merit for National Foundation. | |
Awarded by  South Korea | |
| Type | Order of merit |
| Awarded for | Outstanding meritorious services in the interest of founding or laying a foundation for the Republic of Korea. |
| Status | Active |
| Grades | Republic of Korea Medal Presidential Medal Independence Medal Patriotic Medal National Medal |
| Precedence | |
| Next (higher) | Grand Order of Mugunghwa |
| Related | |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | |
|---|---|
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Geon-guk Hunjang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kŏn'guk Hunchang |
The Order of Merit for National Foundation (Korean: 건국훈장) is one of South Korea's orders of merit. It is awarded by the President of South Korea for "outstanding meritorious services in the interest of founding or laying a foundation for the Republic of Korea."[1] The Order was originally established under a slightly different name 건국공로훈장 (建國功勞勳章) by Presidential Decree #82, on Apr. 27, 1949, and is the oldest Order of the Republic of Korea. On January 16, 1967, there were major changes made to the Order of National Foundation under Presidential Decree #2929. The name of the Order was shortened from 건국공로훈장 (建國功勞勳章) to 건국훈장 (建國勳章), and all three classes got new names and designs.[2]
The Order of Merit for National Foundation is awarded in five grades.[3]
| Grade | Name | Ribbon |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Republic of Korea Medal (대한민국장) |  |
| 2nd | Presidential Medal (대통령장) |  |
| 3rd | Independence Medal (독립장) |  |
| 4th | Patriotic Medal (애국장) |  |
| 5th | National Medal (애족장) |  |
By 2005 about 8,000 people had received the Order.[4] Many of its recipients have only been awarded the Order posthumously, often because they died before it was established; these include Kim Ku, An Jung-geun, and Cho Man-sik.
