Jeonju Okter

Overview

The Jeonju Prison Martyrdom Site (Jeonju Okteo) is a holy site of the Diocese of Jeonju located near the Korea Traditional Culture Center in Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeonbuk, on the site of the largest prison inside Jeonju Fortress in the Joseon period. During the Shinyu Persecution (1801), the Jeonghae Persecution (1827) and the Gihae Persecution (1839), Catholics arrested in various parts of Jeolla were imprisoned here, interrogated, and martyred by dying in prison or by hanging. John Yu Jung-cheol, John Yu Mun-seok, Paul Yi Gyeong-eon, Anastasia Kim Joi, Barbara Sim Joi and Anastasia Yi Bong-geum, who were martyred here, were raised to the rank of Blessed.

History

The Catholic newspaper explains that, as Jeonju was the center of Jeolla in the Joseon period, believers arrested in various regions were confined in Jeonju Prison, tortured and martyred. The Diocese of Jeonju introduces this place as ‘a place of interrogation and punishment, and a place where they prayed.’ According to the Catholic newspaper, the Jeonju prison site was the location of the largest prison inside Jeonju Fortress and was blessed as a holy site on September 3, 2014.

According to the Diocese of Jeonju, during the Shinyu Persecution (1801), Yu Jung-cheol, known together with his wife as the Dongjeong couple, and his younger brother Yu Mun-seok were strangled in prison on October 9 of that year. During the Jeonghae Persecution (1827), more than 240 Catholics were detained and interrogated, and at that time Yi Sun-i’s younger brother Yi Gyeong-eon also died in prison here.

During the Gihae Persecution (1839), Kim Joi and Sim Joi, the wife of Thomas Hong Bong-ju, were martyred in prison from illness contracted in prison life and wounds caused by punishment, and the diocese records that Yi Bong-geum, the youngest in the history of Catholic martyrdom in Korea, was martyred by hanging. It is reported that Yi Bong-geum’s age did not exceed 12 years by full age.

According to the short biography by the Episcopal Commission for the Beatification and Canonization of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, Anastasia Kim Joi was born into a commoner family in Deoksan, Chungcheong, married Paul Yi Seong-sam, learned the catechism from her husband and entered the faith. When the Gihae Persecution broke out in 1839, she fled with her daughter to the house of Protasius Hong Jae-yeong, who was living in exile in Gwangju, Jeolla, but was arrested together with the fellow believers who were with her and transferred under guard to Jeonju. In Jeonju she was interrogated several times but refused the demands to apostatize and to reveal her husband’s whereabouts, and after being punished before the governor she was imprisoned. After signing the death sentence, she was beaten with clubs and, while awaiting judgment in prison life, died in prison around October 1839 at the age of 50.

According to the short biography, Anastasia Yi Bong-geum was born around 1827 in Jangseong and, at about ten years old, was permitted by a missionary to receive the Eucharist. During the Gihae Persecution she was arrested with her mother and transferred under guard to Jeonju, and when the magistrate said he would spare her life if she denied God, she answered, ‘Even if I die a thousand times, I cannot do that.’ After witnessing her mother’s martyrdom in prison, she was hanged in prison in the middle of the night by order of the magistrate. The short biography records this as between December 5, 1839 (lunar October 30) and the night of December 6 (lunar November 1), and explains that her age at the time seems not to have exceeded 12 years.

According to the Diocese of Jeonju, among those martyred at Jeonju Supjeongi during the Gihae Persecution were people who had been arrested during the Jeonghae Persecution (1827) and had spent a full 12 years in prison. The Catholic newspaper reports that five Blesseds, Yi Il-eon, Shin Tae-bo, Yi Tae-gwon, Kim Dae-gwon and Jeong Tae-bong, were confined here for 12 years. It is said that even in prison they lit lamps every night and together read the Bible and prayed aloud, and that at one time more than 240 fellow believers were confined in this prison.

Meaning for faith and context for visiting

The Diocese of Jeonju explains that although the prison in the persecution period was a place of suffering, for Catholics it was a place of prayer and a place to witness to faith in God. Yi Bong-geum and Kim Joi are included in the short biographies of the 124 Blesseds of the Bishops’ Conference, and the 124 martyrs were beatified on August 16, 2014 in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul.

Related places and people

• Jeonju Supjeongi Holy Site: the execution ground where five Blesseds who had long been confined in Jeonju Prison were martyred.
• John Yu Jung-cheol and John Yu Mun-seok: brothers strangled in prison here on October 9, 1801.
• Paul Yi Gyeong-eon: younger brother of Yi Sun-i, who died in prison here during the Jeonghae Persecution.
• Anastasia Kim Joi and Barbara Sim Joi: Blesseds martyred in prison during the Gihae Persecution.
• Anastasia Yi Bong-geum: daughter of Kim Joi, martyred here by hanging.

References and sources

1. Diocese of Jeonju, Jeonju Prison Martyrdom Site. Verified martyrdom facts by persecution, numbers of detainees, detainees in 12, and the meaning of the prison.
   http://www.jcatholic.or.kr/theme/main/pages/terrasanta10.php
2. Episcopal Commission for the Beatification and Canonization of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, short biography of Blessed 98 Anastasia Yi Bong-geum among the 124 Blesseds. Verified Yi Bong-geum’s birth and arrest, interrogation and date of hanging.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/124-Martyrs/98
3. Episcopal Commission for the Beatification and Canonization of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, short biography of Blessed 96 Anastasia Kim Joi among the 124 Blesseds. Verified Kim Joi’s arrest and death in prison.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/124-Martyrs/96
4. Catholic newspaper, Our Saints and Blesseds Seen Together (1) Saint Yu Dae-cheol and Blessed Yi Bong-geum (April 30, 2024). Verified the character of the Jeonju prison site, the blessing as a holy site on September 3, 2014, and the five Blesseds detained in 12.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/20240425500031
5. Episcopal Commission for the Beatification and Canonization of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, process of canonization of the 124 Blesseds. Verified the beatification on August 16, 2014.
   https://www.cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/124-Martyrs/Timeline