Gangneung Daedoho-bu Gwana

Overview

The Gangneung Daedohobu Government Office is a martyrdom historic site belonging to the Chuncheon Diocese, commemorating the faithful who were brought to the Gangneung Daedohobu Government Office in 1868, at the height of the Byeongin Persecution, where they were interrogated and martyred. Good News introduces this place with the brief description “the soul of martyrdom carried on the blue East Sea.”

History

According to the Good News introduction to shrines, the martyrs of the Gangneung area recorded in the Diary of the Martyrs are only Stephen Sim Neung-seok and Anthony Yi Yu-il. However, combining the research of Church historians, oral traditions and other sources, it is said that many faithful were brought to the Gangneung Daedohobu Government Office in 1868, at the height of the Byeongin Persecution, where they were interrogated and martyred.

The diocesan history of the Chuncheon Diocese traces the introduction of Catholicism to Gangwon-do to the migration that followed the Shinhae Persecution in 1791, when the collateral ancestors of Father Thomas Choe Yang-eop led their family members to Hongcheon in Gangwon-do. It also records that among those arrested in the Shinyu Persecution, those exiled to places such as Gangneung settled in Gangwon-do. The same diocesan history states that more than 50 persons connected with the Gangwon region have been confirmed, including Stephen Sim Neung-seok, who was arrested in Gangneung during the Byeongin Persecution.

Meanwhile, the Chuncheon Diocese’s “Witnesses of Faith” states that Stephen Sim Neung-seok, a native of Hoengseong, fled to Gyechon during the Byeongin Persecution, was arrested in 1868 by constables from Seoul, and was martyred at the Podo-cheong before his execution could be carried out, so the diocesan sources differ in their accounts of the place of arrest. This source states that Stephen Sim Neung-seok is included among the candidates for the 2th beatification promoted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, together with John the Baptist Yi Byeok.

Architecture and Space

According to Good News, the only Joseon-period government building still standing at the Gangneung Daedohobu Government Office is Chilsadang. Chilsadang was the place where 7 branches of administration were carried out, concerning household registers, farming, military service, education, taxation, trials and customs. It is said that at this Chilsadang and at Imyeonggwan behind it, many faithful underwent cruel torture without due interrogation and were beheaded.

Related Places and Figures

• Imdang-dong Church: located near the Gangneung Daedohobu Government Office, it is a church that has served as the center of faith in the Yeongdong region. The present church, completed in 1955, was designated in 2010 as Registered Cultural Heritage No. 457 of modern cultural heritage (Good News).
• Stephen Sim Neung-seok: a martyr from Hoengseong and one of the candidates whose beatification is being promoted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (Chuncheon Diocese).
• Anthony Yi Yu-il: a martyr of the Gangneung area recorded in the Diary of the Martyrs, whose name appears in the Good News introduction to shrines.

References and Sources

1. Good News (Archdiocese of Seoul), Shrines and Historic Sites: Gangneung Daedohobu Government Office. Confirmed the belonging diocese, the martyrdom at Chilsadang and Imyeonggwan, the martyrdom in the Byeongin Persecution in 1868, and the cultural-heritage registration of Imdang-dong Church.
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2263
2. Chuncheon Diocese, Diocesan History. Confirmed the account of the introduction of Catholicism to Gangwon-do and of Stephen Sim Neung-seok arrested in Gangneung during the Byeongin Persecution.
   https://www.cccatholic.or.kr/diocese/history/history
3. Chuncheon Diocese, Witnesses of Faith. Confirmed the origin of Stephen Sim Neung-seok, the circumstances of his arrest and martyrdom, and whether he is a candidate for beatification.
   https://www.cccatholic.or.kr/diocese/history/witness