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.

On January 16, 1967, there were major changes made to the Order of National Foundation under Presidential Decree #2929.

[2] The Order of Merit for National Foundation is awarded in five grades.

[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.