Jukrimgul Faith Pilgrimage Site

Overview

Jukrim Cave (Daejae Catholic mission chapel) is a natural stone cave near the summit of Ganwol Mountain in Sangbuk-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan Metropolitan City, and is a shrine of the Diocese of Busan that Catholic believers fleeing persecution used as a Catholic mission chapel from 1840 to 1868. It was called Jukrim Cave because of the abundant mountain bamboo around the cave, and it is known as the place where Venerable Father Choe Yang-eop hid during the Gyeongsin Persecution in 1860 and wrote his last letter.

History

[Formation of the mission chapel] Good News and the beatification materials of the Bishops’ Conference record that after the Gihae Persecution in 1839, believers who had fled from the Chungcheong region and various places in Yeongnam, together with the believers of the Ganwol Catholic mission chapel, looked for a safer place, discovered this natural stone cave, made it a hiding place, and that it developed into a Catholic mission chapel. The believers built huts and earned a living by making earthenware and woodenware or by making charcoal (Good News). The Bishops’ Conference materials explain that the Daejae Catholic mission chapel became the second Catholic mission chapel after the Ganwol Catholic mission chapel, the first Catholic mission chapel in the Eonyang area.

[Size of the cave and daily life] According to the Bishops’ Conference materials, the cave is 7m wide and 1.2m high, and its low entrance covered with bamboo and grass was inconspicuous and thus suitable for hiding, and it could hold about 100 adults. It is said that when government runners appeared beyond the pass in Ganwol Valley, the believers hid here and, so as not to produce smoke, soaked grain in water in a manger and ate it raw. Good News introduces this place as a “Korean-style catacomb,” perfectly suited as a refuge for believers in the persecution era.

[Father Choe Yang-eop and Agatha Kim] Good News records that from 1840 to 1860 Father Daveluy and Father Choe Yang-eop were in charge of pastoral care, and that during the Gyeongsin Persecution in 1860 Father Choe Yang-eop hid here for about 3 months, eating raw rice with the believers, evading persecution, and wrote his last letter to his teacher. At that time, Agatha Kim, the younger sister of Peter Kim Yeong-je, fled here to escape the runners, stayed for 3 months helping Father Choe Yang-eop, and then died. The Bishops’ Conference materials record that Father Choe hid here for 3 months during the Gyeongsin Persecution and that his last letter dated September 3, 1860 is known to have been written here or in a Catholic village deep in Ganwol Mountain, and at the end of that letter is written “at Jukrim, on September 3, 1860.” The Catholic Newspaper writes that Father Choe stayed in Jukrim Cave for just over four months, so the stated period differs by source.

[Byeongin Persecution and closure of the mission chapel] The Bishops’ Conference materials record that Blessed Peter Yi Yang-deung, Luke Kim Jong-ryun, and James Heo In-baek, who were martyred by beheading at the Ulsan military camp parade ground on September 14, 1868 during the Byeongin Persecution, had lived hiding from persecution in a cave in the Jukryeong Catholic village near this place before being arrested. Good News reports that Peter Yi Yang-deung, president of the Daejae Catholic mission chapel, and James Heo In-baek and Luke Kim Jong-ryun once lived here, and explains that in the aftermath of the Byeongin Persecution, as believers were arrested in large numbers in 1868, the more than 100 believers scattered in all directions and the Catholic mission chapel was closed. The Catholic Newspaper writes that Blessed Yi Yang-deung sold honey while watching conditions outside the cave.

[Rediscovery and maintenance] According to Good News and the Catholic Newspaper, in October 1986 Father Kim Yeong-gon of Eonyang Church and 11 lay faithful tried to find Jukrim Cave but failed, and in November of that year 4 lay faithful tried again and discovered the cave covered with bamboo and grass. Inside the cave, manger fragments, a wooden staff, and other items were found, and they are now kept in the faith relics exhibition hall of Eonyang Church. In February 1996, the area around Jukrim Cave was cleared, a new guide stone was erected, and steps were built at the entrance (Good News). The Catholic Newspaper introduces that one can begin the 2 course of the “Ulsan Catholic Pilgrimage Route” along a 13.11㎞ section from Eonyang Church through the Salti Catholic mission chapel and other places.

Related Places and People

• Eonyang Church: it has jurisdiction over Jukrim Cave and keeps relics found in the cave in its faith relics exhibition hall (Good News, Bishops’ Conference).
• Ganwol Catholic mission chapel: the first Catholic mission chapel in the Eonyang area, while Jukrim Cave (Daejae Catholic mission chapel) is the second Catholic mission chapel (Bishops’ Conference).
• Ulsan military camp parade ground: the place where Yi Yang-deung, Kim Jong-ryun, and Heo In-baek were martyred on September 14, 1868 (Bishops’ Conference).
• Father Choe Yang-eop: he hid here during the Gyeongsin Persecution in 1860 and wrote his last letter (Good News, Bishops’ Conference, Catholic Newspaper).

References and Sources

1. Catholic Good News Shrines and Historic Sites, “Jukrim Cave (Daejae Catholic mission chapel)” (Diocese of Busan). Formation of the mission chapel, Father Choe Yang-eop and Agatha Kim, closure, rediscovery in 1986, maintenance in 1996.
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2331
2. Beatification and Canonization Special Committee of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, “Eonyang Jukrim Cave (Daejae Catholic mission chapel)”. Size of the cave, life on raw food, Father Choe Yang-eop’s last letter, martyrdom at the military camp parade ground in 1868.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/18
3. Catholic Newspaper, “[Climbing Mountains to Meet God] (5, Final) Jukrim Cave on Ganwol Mountain”. Use as a Catholic mission chapel from 1840 to 1868, discovery in 1986, Ulsan Catholic Pilgrimage Route.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/202107270072147