• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.144-153
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• 2022

This study conducted scientific analysis and preservation treatment for the local 7 relics (depurator bottle, eagle patten button, rank insignia, mess tin, M1 Grand-gun cleaning tool kit, Carbine bullet, cartridge) of the fallen of Korean War excavated through the MND Agency for KIA Recovery & Identification that are possessed in the exhibition hall of the Ground Operations Command. FT-IR analysis results show that remainder of depurator bottle is assumed to play a role of water and food purifier during the war for its spectrum similar to Trisodium phosphate, and inscription carved on the cartridge that is hard to observe with naked eyes was also confirmed through 3D digital shooting method. This study also established directivity of preservation treatment of relics for stable treatment by carrying out a survey of conditions based on the microscope and visual observation. The result is expected to be used as basic data for establishment of future directivity of preservation treatment for a variety of war relics.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.124-133
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• 2023

Preservation processing for two combat boots was executed through application of 3-dimensional digital technology and with use of preservation materials providing outstanding reversibility and stability. The aim of this was to establish a method to preserve the relics of fallen Korean War soldiers that had been excavated by the soldiers remains excavation corps of the Ministry of National Defense. It was possible to estimate the foot size of the soldiers who would have worn the combat boots via 3-dimensional digital scanning and modeling of the boots. In this process, the original form of the combat boots was restored through the use of 3D-printed structures. The original form was restored through a process of removing contaminants from the excavated relics and performing a conditioning treatment, and through use of an antique-color treatment after bonding and filling in the sections that had been ripped or deteriorated. Following the aforementioned preservation processes, it was possible to confirm that both of the combat boots had soles and top sections made of rubber, and portions of the top section and ankle section of the boots were made of synthetic rubber. As such, it was confirmed that these were similar to the Shoe Pac(M-1944, 12-inch) winter boots that had been manufactured for the purposes of waterproofing and/or protection against cold, and introduced in 1944. Such results confirmed that it is possible to discover the manufacturing techniques, materials, and uses of relics excavated through application of preservation processing, thereby illustrating the importance of the convergent research of scientific preservation processing and 3-dimensional digital technology.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.821-830
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• 2021

The weapons excavated from the de-militarized zones (DMZ) of Korea are vulnerable to corrosion due to the immediate and drastic environmental change. Especially, the chloride ions (Cl^-) in iron weapons cause active corrosion and require removal. In this study, conservation treatment and de-salination was performed for the discovered weapons from excavation sites of soldiers killed in action during the Korean War. Furthermore, an attempt was made to prepare the most stable plan for conservation treatment through the comparative study of soaking weapons in distilled water without chemicals and in a solution of sodium (SSC) at different temperatures. In the preliminarily experiments, the comparison of the eluted Cl^- ions according to different conditions of de-salination showed that the highest number of ions were detected from the de-salination with SSC at a temperature of 100℃, and its duration was much smaller, i.e., 1~2 weeks. Accordingly, for the parts from the guns and rifles amongst other objects, a six-time de-salination was conducted in the SSC solution for 8 hours at 100℃ and subsequently, for 16 hours at room temperature during which the distilled water and SSC were exchanged every week. However, in the case of a loaded rifle, the de-salination was not conducted, considering the risk that the high temperature and pressure by impregnation in vacuum could cause an explosion