About this place
The Site of the Right Police Bureau commemorates the location of the U-Podocheong, one of the Joseon capital’s policing offices, and is recognized by the Archdiocese of Seoul as a Catholic historical site. Rather than an operating church building, it is a pilgrimage point recalling Catholics who were arrested, interrogated, and punished during periods of persecution.
The “Road of Life” on the Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage Route connects this site with other places associated with persecution and martyrdom. It has particular meaning in Catholic memory because of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon’s prison letter and the many believers who witnessed to their faith in the Podocheong system.
History & origins
The Podocheong became a permanent institution in 1541 during the reign of King Jungjong, with separate left and right bureaus responsible for policing and criminal investigation in the capital. The Right Police Bureau covered western and northern parts of Seoul, and as persecution of Catholicism intensified in the nineteenth century, searching for, arresting, and investigating Catholics became an important part of its work.
Arrested Catholics were interrogated and punished at the Podocheong, and some died there as martyrs. Material on the Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage Route states that Saint Andrew Kim Taegon wrote his final prison letter at the Right Police Bureau and also connects the site with martyrs such as the young Saint Peter Yu Tae-chol during the 1839 Gihae Persecution.
The Podocheong was abolished in 1894 during the Gabo Reform and replaced by a modern police administration. To honor the history of those martyred in the left and right bureaus, the Archdiocese of Seoul designated Jongno Catholic Church as the Podocheong pilgrimage church in 2013. The site of the Right Police Bureau remains a Catholic historical place on the Seoul pilgrimage route.
Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia
Upo Heritage Site Shrine: history and architecture
Read about the place's history, architecture, people, and events in the Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia.
Encyclopedia articles are currently available in Korean.
Would you like to record this place in your pilgrimage passport?
Sign in to keep this record with you.
Building information
- Passenger elevators: 6
- 10 above-ground floors · 1 below-ground floors
- Approved for use in 1994
- Total floor area: 22,869㎡
Building-register record · · Source
Accessibility information
Accessibility information is not available yet. Please check with the location before visiting.
Sources and updates
- Information Status
- Official
- Source
- Official source
- Data freshness
- Fresh
- Last updated
- Source
- 한국천주교주교회의 온라인 주소록
Diocese
Official website: https://aos.catholic.or.kr
Help verify information
Did the Mass schedule or church information change?
Let us know if you confirmed the displayed information or noticed something different.
Information Status: Official source
Visited here? Share details about toilets, parking or ramps.
Sign in to leave a visitor check.
Sign in to confirm the schedule or report a change.
Reports are saved for review. Mass times are changed after evidence such as official sources is checked, not automatically based on visitor confirmations.