[Welfare and Veterans’ Affairs] Application period and documents for re-medical examination for veterans and others who do not meet the grade – There is a 60-day deadline even after the 30-day objection period has passed.

3-Line Summary

1. National Meritorious Service Registration review involves separate assessments of eligibility review and upper-grade physical examination. Even if eligibility is recognized, the application is deemed rejected if the grade is not met.
2. If there is a disagreement with the results of a new physical examination, a re-examination can be requested within 60 days from the date of receiving the physical examination results notification. This is a different procedure than the veterans affairs appeal deadline (30 days from the date of receiving the decision).
3. In the re-examination, it is essential to submit surgical records, imaging tests, and measurement records that were not reflected in the initial assessment, along with the reasons. If the grade is not obtained even in the re-examination, a re-confirmation physical examination can be requested after 2 years or when the condition worsens.

Table of Contents

1. Two Conclusions Contained in One Notification
2. Eligibility Recognized, Grade Not Met: Re-examination Instead of Appeal
3. Calculating the Deadline: 30 Days Have Passed, But 60 Days Remain
4. Records Missing from the Initial Physical Examination
5. Reasons Stated in the Re-examination Application
6. Re-examination Results and Subsequent Options
7. Items to Check When National Meritorious Service Grade is Not Met
8. Administrative Agent (administrative scrivener)‘s Office Services

1. Two Conclusions Contained in One Notification

The national meritorious service registration result notification is often a single sheet, but it frequently contains two conclusions. One is a eligibility determination regarding whether the injury is related to duty, and the other is an upper-grade assessment regarding the degree of injury. As an administrative agent (administrative scrivener) handling veterans affairs registration in Songdo, Incheon, I often see people misreading these two conclusions as one and going down the wrong path.

This article is about such a case.

He was a former non-commissioned officer in his late twenties. During military service, he injured his right knee while descending a slope during a nighttime maneuver training and underwent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction at a civilian university hospital. After discharge, he worked at a logistics center in Incheon, but the job involved a lot of stairs and loading work, so he couldn’t last long. His wife worked in accounting at a company in Songdo, and the couple were expecting their first child next spring. The husband was studying for certifications to switch to an office job.

Registration as a national meritorious service recipient comes with compensation as well as medical and employment support. For this family, that support was the money needed to get through a few months while the husband changed professions.

2. Requirement Recognized, Grade Below Standard: Not a Petition for Reconsideration, but a Re-examination

My wife was the first to contact me. She said she preferred email to phone and sent me photos of the notification and the physical examination results notification.

Reading the notification, the content was clear. The Ministry of Veterans Affairs Review Committee recognized the requirement of injury during training. However, the new physical examination at the Veterans Affairs Hospital judged the knee injury as below the standard for the disability grade, and as a result, the registration application was processed as rejected.

The couple was accepting this as “being rejected from being a meritorious veteran.” They searched the internet for “30 days for a veterans affairs petition for reconsideration” and calculated the dates, only to find that 30 days had already passed. Her husband said to give up, and she sent an email saying to ask one last time.

Article 6-3 of the “Act on Honoring Meritorious Veterans and Support” (hereinafter referred to as the Meritorious Veterans Act) divides physical examinations into four categories:

This couple’s problem was not the requirement, but the grade. The petition for reconsideration challenging the requirement and the re-examination challenging the grade are different procedures, and the deadlines are counted separately. In my reply to their first consultation email, I wrote: “The requirement has already been recognized. What needs to be challenged is the grade, and the deadline for that procedure likely still remains.”

3. Deadline Calculation: 30 Days Have Passed, But 60 Days Remained

Article 15, Paragraph 1, Clause 1 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Honoring and Supporting Meritorious Public Servants states as follows: A person who disagrees with the result of the initial medical examination may apply for a re-examination by writing the reason on the re-examination application form within 60 days from the date of receiving the medical examination result notification.

Simply put, if you don’t like the grade assessment, it means you have almost two months from the date you received the notification. The reconsideration application under Article 74-18 of the National Veteran Affairs Law states “within 30 days from the date of receiving the disposition,” and the starting point and period are different.

The problem was “when” the notification was received. My wife remembered the day she saw the notification, but the registered mail was kept in the lobby for a few days before we received it. I suggested checking the delivery record with the registration number to confirm the date of receipt. When I checked, the actual date of receipt was two days later than the day my wife and I remembered.

Based on that day, the consultation date was on the 41st day. There were 19 days left.

19 days is not a lot of time. To get a new medical certificate, we had to make an outpatient appointment at a university hospital, and the appointment was scheduled three weeks later. So, we prioritized.

1. The application for a re-examination should be submitted within the deadline first. Attach the reason and the records already secured.
2. Supplement additional records before the examination date after submission. We confirmed with the relevant veterans affairs office whether we could submit the supplementary materials and when to submit them.
3. Create a separate list of original documents to bring on the examination date. Bring the video originals and record copies so that the doctor can see them on the day of the examination.

When the deadline is short, submitting the documents within the deadline is more important than perfect documents.

4. Records Initially Omitted from the Initial Medical Examination

The couple visited the office together on the day of the appointment. My wife had gathered all the documents she had received into a thick clear file, and a wedding invitation from the couple’s wedding was inserted in the front. My wife smiled and said, “Because I put everything important in this file,” and the wedding invitation was moved to the back of the file.

As we went through the file page by page, we confirmed what was submitted for the new medical examination. Her husband had only submitted one diagnostic report received from the military hospital just before his discharge and documents related to his work-related injury prepared by the unit. The surgical records from a private university hospital, the pre- and post-operative MRI readings, and the joint measurement records from the rehabilitation process were not included.

When asked, her husband said, “I thought it was all included in the military records.” He assumed that since the surgery was performed at a private hospital with military approval, the records would have been transferred along with it. In reality, private hospital medical records are not included in the review materials unless the individual requests them to be issued. This misunderstanding is not uncommon.

There was also an issue with the timing of the medical examination. The day he received the new medical examination was shortly after he had finished rehabilitation, and he remembered saying, “I’m okay” several times on the day of the examination. It was a manifestation of the habit of not easily mentioning illness in the military. However, after that, his knee started to swell again while working at the logistics center, and the orthopedic outpatient records showed continuing instability.

I divided the records into three sections:

• Surgical & Imaging Records: University hospital surgical record, pre- and post-operative MRI readings, discharge summary
• Progress Records: Rehabilitation records, post-discharge orthopedic outpatient records and joint measurement results
• Activity Restriction Data: Employment and retirement documents showing the contents and duration of work at the logistics center

The determination of the grade is made by the medical staff at the Ministry of Veterans Affairs Hospital and the Ministry of Veterans Affairs Review Committee. The administrative agent (administrative scrivener)’s job is to ensure that all necessary records are placed before them without omissions.

5. Reasons Stated in the Re-examination Application

Article 15 of the Enforcement Decree stipulates that the reason must be stated in the application, and Paragraph 2 states that the Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs shall order a re-examination if he/she recognizes that there is a reason for the application. If the reason is limited to “the assessment was unfair,” the reason for re-examination weakens.

The reasons in the application were written in three paragraphs.

1. Record Not Reflected in the Assessment: It states that the submitted materials at the time of the new physical examination were only one military hospital diagnostic certificate, and that the surgical record, MRI reading report, and rehabilitation measurement record were missing, and attached the relevant records.
2. Circumstances Since the Examination: It states chronologically that the new physical examination was conducted immediately after rehabilitation, and that instability findings continued to appear in subsequent outpatient records.
3. Specific Content of Restrictions on Daily Life: Article 6(4)(2) of the National Veterans and Victims of War Relief Act stipulates that when determining the disability grade, it should comprehensively consider not only the affected area and manner, but also the degree of restriction on social life. The circumstances and timing of leaving forklift operation were supported by employment and dismissal documents.

The application was submitted to the relevant veterans affairs office four days before the deadline. On the day the receipt was received, my husband said he opened the eligibility test application screen again for the first time.

Three weeks later, a new medical opinion was obtained from the university hospital outpatient clinic, and this was also submitted to the veterans affairs office as supplementary material. On the day of the physical examination, I created a list for you to bring a CD containing the original MRI images and a bundle of record copies. And I made one request: to answer as you normally would, neither exaggerating nor minimizing the degree of pain.

For reference, Article 6-3, Paragraph 8 of the National Veterans Relief Act allows for the possibility of considering the physical examination to have been conducted if a National Veterans Disability Certificate issued by a tertiary general hospital or a certain medical institution is submitted. In this case, it was difficult to receive the certificate within the deadline, so we proceeded with a re-physical examination at the veterans affairs hospital. Which path is better depends on the hospital appointment situation and the remaining deadline.

6. Re-examination Results and Subsequent Options

The results of the re-examination physical test came out approximately 3 months after submission. The knee injury was classified as Grade 7, and since the requirements had already been recognized, the process for national merit veteran registration proceeded. This is the outcome of this case, and even for the same area, the grade can vary depending on the records and examination results.

I had previously explained during the consultation what would happen if the results did not change even after the re-examination.

• According to Article 6(3) of the National Merit Veteran Act, if you do not receive a grade determination in the re-examination physical test, the application is deemed rejected.
• In this case, according to Article 16 of the Enforcement Decree, you can reapply for registration and request a re-examination physical test after 2 years from the date of the determination, or if there are significant reasons such as recurrence or aggravation.
• If there is something illegal or unfair about the determination itself, you can consider an administrative appeal in accordance with the “Administrative Appeal Act.” The claim period is 90 days from the date you became aware of the disposition.

My wife sent me an email the day I received the notification of the results. It briefly stated that my husband had decided to take a certification exam next month. There were five months left until the due date.

The previous article National Merit Veteran Objection Procedure and Documents covered the case of disputing the eligibility determination (decision on whether to be designated as a beneficiary of welfare and veterans’ benefits). The entire registration application process is summarized in National Merit Veteran and Beneficiary of Welfare and Veterans’ Benefits Registration Guide.

7. Things to Check When Failing to Meet National Meritorious Service Grade Requirements

If you have received the result notification, please check in the following order:

1. Distinguish what you failed in. Check the wording of the notification to see if the requirement (job-relatedness) was not recognized, or if the requirement was recognized but a lower grade was issued.
2. Confirm the exact date you received the notification. If it was sent by registered mail, check the delivery status to confirm the receipt date. The deadline for a re-examination physical is 60 days from that date, and the deadline for a veterans affairs appeal is 30 days from the date the decision was received.
3. Create a list of the materials you submitted for the initial physical examination. If private hospital surgical records, image interpretations, or measurement records were omitted, this will serve as the basis for the reason for re-examination.
4. Write the reason specifically. Show the missing records, subsequent events after the examination date, and limitations in daily and occupational life with dates and documents.
5. Check the path after re-examination. Note the re-confirmation physical examination (2-year lapse or worsening), and the administrative appeal filing period (90 days from the date of the decision) on a calendar.

The application of requirements and deadlines varies depending on the case, so individual verification is necessary.

8. Administrative Agent Office Work Scope

Hwang Yunsang Administrative Agent Office prepares and files applications for recognition as a national merit veteran and beneficiaries of veterans’ welfare benefits, and prepares and files requests for re-examination. We calculate deadlines based on the date of receipt of the notification and provide guidance on the order of issuance of medical records and supporting documents necessary for the review. We also provide document preparation/filing service for veterans’ objection applications and administrative appeal requests, and assist with organizing the documents to be brought on the day of the physical examination.

Grade determination is determined by the veterans’ hospital and the veterans’ review committee based on medical records. The core of this work is to ensure that all necessary records are included within the deadline.

This has been reorganized for understanding and is unrelated to any specific individual or event.

An administrative agent office located in Songdo, Incheon (Posco Tower Songdo). We handle administrative appeals, license/permit/registration proxy, immigration for foreigners (visa/residence), regular administrative management, and national merit registration/re-examination applications. If you are in Incheon or Songdo and are considering the next steps after receiving your grade assessment results, please feel free to send us a photo of the notification. If you are curious about similar situations, feel free to leave an inquiry.

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