Saenggok Mission Chapel

History & origins

The Saenggok area was already within the pastoral territory of Seoseok Mission Station before Saenggok itself was formally established. According to the Diocese of Chuncheon’s history of Seoseok Parish, when the Seoseok mission community took shape in 1956, its territory included Saenggok-ri 1 and 2. As the Seoseok community grew, separate mission stations were gradually organized for Catholics in surrounding mountain areas.

The diocesan mission-station record gives September 16, 1965, as the establishment date of Saenggok Mission Station. When Seoseok Mission Station was elevated to parish status on May 31, 1968, Saenggok, together with Naemyeon, Jangpyeong, Mulgeolli, and Gwangwon Mission Stations, came under the new Seoseok Parish. The relationship between Saenggok and the Seoseok Catholic community thus continued within a formal parish-and-mission-station structure.

Public diocesan sources do not provide a detailed account of later building changes or major events at Saenggok. Nevertheless, its continued status as a mission station of Seoseok Parish since 1965 shows the long continuity of a small Catholic community in the mountain region of eastern Hongcheon.