It is South Korea's second national cemetery after the Seoul National Cemetery and is overseen by the Ministry of Patriots' and Veterans' Affairs (South Korea).

[1] The cemetery is reserved for Korean veterans, including those who died in the Korean independence movement, Korean War, Vietnam War and post–Korean War clashes with North Korea.

As the Seoul National Cemetery was reaching capacity in the early 1970s, on 16 December 1974, then President Park Chung-hee ordered that investigations commence for the establishment of a new national cemetery site.

Construction of the cemetery began on 1 April 1979 and the first burial took place on 27 August 1982.

The cemetery covers an area of 3,300,150 m2 and facilities include a Memorial Tower and Memorial Gate, Patriotic Spirit Exhibition Center, an outdoor exhibition space, fountains, statues, sculptures, pavilions, and Hyeonchungji, a man-made pond in the shape of the Korean Peninsula.