Juksan Sanctuary

Overview

The Juksan Martyrs’ Shrine is a martyrs’ shrine of the Catholic Diocese of Suwon located in Jukrim-ri, Iljuk-myeon, Anseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, built on the martyrdom site Ijeun-teo, the Forgotten Site, where believers dragged to Juksan Dohobu during the Byeongin Persecution (1866) were executed. In the martyrs’ cemetery are the graves of 24 martyrs, including the blessed couple Francis Bak Gyeong-jin and Margarita O and 8 Servants of God, together with the grave of unknown martyrs.

History

[Juksan Dohobu] The Episcopal Commission for Beatification and Canonization of the Bishops’ Conference writes that Juksan had been a major transportation hub leading down to the three southern provinces of Chungcheong, Jeolla and Gyeongsang since the Goryeo period. In the early Joseon period it was Juksan-hyeon, but as its military importance grew it was promoted to Juksan Dohobu (Juksan-bu) immediately after the Imjin War, and when the Sueo Huyeong garrison at Yeoju was moved to Juksan under King Injo, the magistrate of the Dohobu came to serve concurrently as commander of the Sueo Huyeong and as chief thief-catcher. The Catholic Times reports that Juksan was promoted to Dohobu in 1595.

[The Byeongin Persecution and the Martyrs of Juksan] The Commission explains that, since the magistrate of Juksan Dohobu concurrently held the offices of chief thief-catcher and military commander at the time of the Byeongin Persecution, he mobilized on the strength of military power even the constables of nearby Yeoju, Icheon, Yongin and Anseong and arrested more believers than in other regions. In the small town of Juksan, 22 people were martyred, and records about them can be found in the Diary of Martyrdoms, the Accounts of the Byeongin Martyrs, the Bak Sun-jip Testimony Record, and others. Executions were concentrated between 1866 and 1869, and there were several cases in which one family was executed on the same day at the same place. Shrine guides and Anseong City tourism guides list 25 martyrs whose names are revealed in the Diary of Martyrdoms and the Testimony Record, while the Catholic Times and Commission materials list 24 martyrs’ graves, including the blessed couple Bak Gyeong-jin and O Margarita and 8 Servants of God.

[Ijeun-teo] Anseong City tourism guides and the former shrine homepage explain that the original name of the execution site called Ijeun-teo was Ijin-teo (夷陳), so called in the sense that barbarians had encamped there, because it was the place where the Mongol army encamped to attack Jukjusanseong Fortress in the Goryeo period. During the Byeongin Persecution it came to be called Ijeun-teo, the Forgotten Site, from the saying that once dragged there a person was to be regarded as dead and forgotten. They report that before it became a pasture it was a secluded valley thick with old pine trees and invisible from the road. The Catholic Times writes that the execution ground stood by the main road from the southern provinces to Seoul, so passersby were frequent and anyone could watch the executions. The former shrine homepage notes that near the shrine lies the village of Dudulgi in Deoksan-ri, Samjuk-myeon.

[Family Martyrdoms] According to Commission materials, executing one family on the same day was prohibited by Joseon national law, but this was not observed at the time of the Byeongin Persecution. The blessed couple Francis Bak Gyeong-jin (1835-1868) and Margarita O moved to Jeolgol in Jincheon and lived the faith for about 2 years before being arrested by Juksan constables on September 5, 1868 and martyred together on September 28, 1868 (lunar August 13). The couple Thaddeus Jo Chi-myeong (1839-1868) and Ursicina Kim (1842-1868) were arrested in lunar July 1868 and martyred by hanging in the prison of the Juksan government office, while their ten-year-old son begged for food to care for them in prison. The couple Andrew Choe Je-geun (1848-1868) and Teresa Bang (1849-1868) were martyred by hanging at the Juksan government office in lunar July 1868, when Choe Je-geun was 20 years old. Yeo Gi-jung (1806?–1866) and the family of his son Yeo Jeong-mun were martyred by hanging at the Juksan government office, and the Catholic Times reports that Yeo Jeong-mun (martyred in 1867) was martyred on the same day at the same place with his wife and 15-year-old son, and Choe Seong-cheom (martyred in 1868) with his son.

[Other Martyrs] According to Commission materials, James Jeong Deok-gu (1845-1867) was arrested by Juksan constables on December 5, 1867 at Guksil Jeomchon in Gongju and martyred at the age of 22 in the prison of the Juksan government office around December 25. Magdalena Mun (1848-1866) was arrested by Juksan constables together with her father-in-law James Go Si-su and martyred by hanging in Juksan, and Peter Yu (1846-1869) was arrested in Pyeongchang and transferred to the Juksan government office. There are also cases like James Go Si-su (1817-1866) who was arrested by Juksan constables but martyred in Suwon. Anseong City tourism guides record that, in the mountains where believers lived in hiding, it is handed down that some 10 villagers threatened them to hand over the 17-year-old daughter of Dominic Kim.

[Development of the Shrine] According to the Catholic Times, in 1979 Juksan Parish launched the Juksan Shrine Development Committee and began to develop Ijeun-teo as a shrine. After confirming the location of the martyrdom site and collecting historical materials, the parish secured a site of more than 2 pyeong from 1994 onward, began construction of a new church in June 1997, and held the dedication ceremony on December 14 of the same year. Anseong City tourism guides state that for more than 70 years, from 1866, when the Byeongin Persecution began, until 1932, 2 years before a Catholic mission chapel was established here, no community of believers was formed.

Architecture and Space

The Catholic Times reports that it is about 800 meters from the large stone marked Juksan Shrine at the entrance to the shrine to the shrine itself, that there is a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the center of the parking lot, and that there is a gate bearing a plaque inscribed Holy Ground (聖域). According to Commission materials, at the center of the shrine, with the grave of unknown martyrs in the middle, there are on both sides a monument honoring the martyrs and 24 graves of Byeongin martyrs, 12 on each side on the left and right, and apart from the 24 whose names are known, the names of more than 100 other martyrs are not even known. The Catholic Times reports that 14 Stations of the Cross are arranged surrounding the martyrs’ cemetery, and that there is a path of Marian devotion.

Related Places and Figures

• Blessed Francis Bak Gyeong-jin and Margarita O: a couple arrested in Jeolgol, Jincheon and martyred together in Juksan in 1868 (Bishops’ Conference).
• Servants of God Thaddeus Jo Chi-myeong and Ursicina Kim, and Andrew Choe Je-geun and Teresa Bang: couples martyred in Juksan (Bishops’ Conference).
• Yeo Gi-jung and Yeo Jeong-mun’s family: family members martyred together at the Juksan government office (Bishops’ Conference, Catholic Times).
• Jukjusanseong Fortress: the fortress the Mongol army sought to attack in the Goryeo period, origin of the name Ijin-teo (Anseong City, former shrine homepage).
• Dudulgi in Deoksan-ri, Samjuk-myeon: a village near the shrine, introduced as a place steeped in the stories of believers during the persecution (former shrine homepage, Catholic Times).

References and Sources

1. Episcopal Commission for Beatification and Canonization of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, “Related Shrines: Juksan Shrine”. Juksan Dohobu, 22 Byeongin martyrs, brief biographies of each martyr, composition of the shrine cemetery.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/33
2. Catholic Times, “[Suwon Diocese Church Pilgrimage] Juksan Martyrs’ Shrine Church” (November 7, 2025). Promotion to Dohobu, location of the execution ground, family martyrdoms, shrine development and church dedication in 1979~1997.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/20251107500139
3. Catholic Times, “[Pilgrimage, Walking and Praying] Juksan Martyrs’ Shrine in the Diocese of Suwon” (May 12, 2024). Ijin-teo and Ijeun-teo names, composition of the martyrs’ cemetery, Dudulgi.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/20240512500053
4. Anseong City Culture and Tourism, “Juksan Martyrs’ Shrine”. 25 martyrs, origin of Ijin-teo, situation before the establishment of a Catholic mission chapel in 1932.
   https://www.anseong.go.kr/tour/themeTourist/view.do?idx=203&mId=0104000000
5. Catholic Juksan Martyrs’ Shrine (former homepage), “Stories of the Shrine”. 25 martyrs, Ijin-teo and Ijeun-teo, Dudulgi.
   https://org.catholic.or.kr/juksan/story_01.htm