About this place
The Site of the Uigeumbu commemorates the location of the Joseon royal judicial office responsible for serious state crimes and is recognized as a Catholic historical site of the Archdiocese of Seoul. It is not an operating church but a pilgrimage place remembering bishops, priests, and lay leaders who were treated as serious offenders and subjected to royal interrogation during periods of Catholic persecution.
The “Road of Life” on the Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage Route links this site with the former Ministry of Punishments, Jeonokseo prison, the Right Police Bureau, and the execution ground outside Seosomun. Its Catholic significance lies not simply in the former government office itself but in the witness of believers who professed their faith under state interrogation.
History & origins
The Uigeumbu was a Joseon judicial office that handled serious crimes under royal authority. After persecution of Catholicism began, not only ordinary Catholics but especially bishops, priests, and lay leaders classified as major offenders were subjected to formal interrogation there.
Material on the Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage Route connects the Uigeumbu with the testimony of figures including Peter Yi Seung-hun during the 1791 Sinhae Persecution, Father James Zhou Wen-mo, Bishops Laurent Imbert and Siméon Berneux, missionaries such as Maubant and Chastan, and lay leader Paul Chong Ha-sang. Across successive persecutions, the office became one of the principal institutions used to interrogate leaders of the Korean Church.
Today the site does not preserve the original government building; it functions as a Catholic historical place remembering the location and events associated with it. As part of the Vatican-approved Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage Route’s “Road of Life,” it remains a place to reflect on interrogation, persecution, and the confession of faith.
Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia
Uigeumbu 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.
Pilgrimages passing here
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.