Servant of God Seo Eung-gwon John Martyr's Tomb

History & origins

John Seo Eung-gwon was born around 1827 into a family that had lived for generations in Norumok, Jangbang-ri, Sangbuk-myeon, Gimhae-gun, Gyeongsang Province. He belonged to the Dalseong Seo clan and his courtesy name is recorded as Seon-gyeom. As an adult he married Anna Yun and they had six children. The couple farmed for their livelihood, embraced the Catholic faith, and taught the catechism to their children. The biography published by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea describes them as a lay Catholic family that practiced the faith faithfully before the persecution.

When the Byeongin Persecution broke out in 1866 and government agents reached the village of Norumok, the couple briefly went into hiding and later returned home. After learning that three of their young children had been killed, John Seo and Anna Yun presented themselves at the Gimhae government office. They are remembered as having refused to apostatize and as having endured punishment until martyrdom. The bishops’ conference and diocesan sources, however, make clear that the exact date and manner of execution have not been established; the martyrdom is therefore placed in the period of persecution beginning in 1866 rather than assigned a more precise date.

After their martyrdom, the bodies of the couple were initially buried by the authorities, but family members were reportedly able to recover them about two months later and bury them separately. At a later date their third son, Pius Seo Seok-su, moved both sets of remains to the present burial site in Sirye-ri, Jillye-myeon, Gimhae, where a twin grave was formed. The family’s recovery and reburial of the remains made it possible for a specific grave of the martyrs to be preserved for later generations.

In May 2019, the Special Episcopal Commission to Promote Beatification and Canonization of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea conducted an on-site investigation of the tomb and preserved photographs and documentation. The work was part of the investigation of John Seo as one of the 133 Servants of God and served to confirm the tomb and the tradition surrounding it. The grave today therefore preserves not only the memory of a lay martyr’s death but also that of a family that suffered persecution and descendants who safeguarded the martyrs’ remains.