Gwandukjeong

History & origins

By the late nineteenth century, official state persecution of Catholicism in Korea was coming to an end, but tensions over religion and the social order remained in local communities. In Jeju these tensions erupted dramatically in the 1901 Sinchuk conflict. The Diocese of Jeju's official shrine guide records that Gwandeokjeong Square became a site where many people, including Catholics and other civilians, were killed.

After the violence, bodies from the Gwandeokjeong area were moved to the slopes between Byeoldobong and the Hwabucheon stream and buried provisionally. Graves of victims whose families could identify them were later moved separately, while the remaining unidentified bodies were dealt with through a process involving the Church and public authorities. In 1903 the royal government provided Hwangsapyeong as a burial site, and the remaining bodies were transferred there.

For this reason Gwandeokjeong and Hwangsapyeong belong to the same historical memory. Gwandeokjeong marks the place of violence and death, while Hwangsapyeong became the place of burial and commemoration. The Diocese of Jeju preserves Gwandeokjeong as a pilgrimage site not to reproduce past conflict, but to remember those who died and to reflect on reconciliation and peace within both Church and local society.