Yanggeun Shrine

Overview

Yanggeun Shrine is a shrine of the Suwon Diocese in Yangpyeong-eup, Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, where an early Korean Catholic faith community was formed and spread and where martyrs were executed, making it a martyrdom shrine. Yanggeun, meaning “willow root,” is an old place name, the hometown of the brothers Ambrose Kwon Cheol-sin and Francis Xavier Kwon Il-sin who led the lectures at Jueosa in Cheonjinam, and it is called the “cradle of the Korean Catholic Church.” The shrine was developed in earnest from 2003 onward, and a new church and facilities were blessed in 2011.

History

According to materials from the Episcopal Special Commission for Beatification and Canonization of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, “Yanggeun” is a place name rooted in the Goguryeo period meaning “willow root.” In this area, where a village had formed long ago beside the winding Namhan River, willows were planted along the river to protect the village from flooding, so there were many willows. The saying derived from Yanggeun, “Yangjegungi,” meaning “sturdy origin” and “foundation,” also corresponds to the role of the Yanggeun area as root and foundation in the history of the Korean Catholic Church.

According to the Good News shrine guide, Yanggeun is the birthplace of Kwon Cheol-sin and Kwon Il-sin, leading figures in the founding of Korean Catholicism before the Sinyu Persecution. After Peter Yi Seung-hun returned from baptism in Beijing in 1784 and baptized Yi Byeok and Kwon Il-sin at Yi Byeok’s house near Supyo Bridge in Seoul, he went down to Yanggeun and baptized Kwon Cheol-sin and Yi Jon-chang, later apostle to Chungcheong-do and Jeolla-do, and Yu Hang-geom. They formed a faith community and offered prayers such as Jowa, Man-gwa and Seongnosingong, and, with limited understanding of Catholicism, celebrated Mass and sacraments under a system of self-appointed clergy. According to the Bishops’ Conference materials, the Yanggeun area is where Hangammae is located, the birthplace of Ambrose Kwon Cheol-sin and Francis Xavier Kwon Il-sin who led the lectures at Jueosa in Cheonjinam, and from here the first faith community was formed and the faith spread nationwide. According to the Catholic Newspaper of June 29, 2016, the brothers Jeong Yak-jeon and Jeong Yak-yong, Yi Byeok, Yi Jon-chang, Yu Hang-geom, Hong Nak-min, Yi Seung-hun and others received Catholic teaching from Kwon Cheol-sin, and it was here in Yanggeun that Catholicism was raised from scholarship to faith and a system of self-appointed clergy was introduced out of longing for the sacraments.

The Catholic Newspaper reports that the faithful of Yanggeun barely survived successive persecutions, then continued the faith by establishing a Catholic mission chapel and a parish after gaining religious freedom, and that Yangpyeong Church is the church building continuing these local ancestors of faith. According to an August 2026 article in the Catholic Newspaper, the shrine began to be developed in earnest from 2003 onward, with a Martyrs Memorial Church, the Stations of the Cross, statues of the virgin couple Cho Suk and Kwon Cheon-rye and several martyr sculptures, and in 2011 a new church and facilities were blessed.

The Bishops’ Conference materials list as martyred Blesseds from Yanggeun Sebastian Kwon Sang-mun (1769–1802), son of Kwon Il-sin and adopted son of Kwon Cheol-sin, Peter Cho Suk (1786–1819) and Kwon Il-sin’s daughter Teresa Kwon Cheon-rye (1783–1819), and as Servants of God Yu Han-suk (?–1801), Thomas Cho Sang-deok (1762–1801), son of Justin Cho Dong-seom, and Kim Il-ho (?–1802). Martyred Blesseds from other regions who lived in Yanggeun and practiced the faith include Paul Yun Yu-il (1760–1795) and his younger brother James Yun Yu-o (?–1801), Yun Yu-il’s cousin Agatha Yun Jeom-hye (1778?–1801) and Lucia Yun Un-hye (?–1801), and as Servants of God Peter Jang Sa-gwang (1787–1839) and his wife Magdalena Son (1784–1839), daughter of Blessed Gervasio Son Gyeong-yun who was martyred in 1802. James Yun Yu-o and Yu Han-suk were beheaded in Yanggeun on April 27, 1801, Agatha Yun Jeom-hye on July 4, 1801, and Sebastian Kwon Sang-mun and Kim Il-ho on January 30, 1802, while Thomas Cho Sang-deok and the couple Jang Sa-gwang and Magdalena Son died in the Yanggeun government office prison. Blesseds from Yanggeun martyred in Seoul are Paul Yun Yu-il martyred in 1795, Anthony Hong Ik-man martyred in 1802, Peter Cho Yong-sam martyred at the Gyeonggi provincial office in March 1801, and the virgin couple Peter Cho Suk and Teresa Kwon Cheon-rye martyred in August 1819. Cho Suk and Kwon Cheon-rye helped Paul Jeong Ha-sang bring in clergy, were arrested in 1817, endured more than 2 years in prison, and were beheaded outside Seosomun in August 1819. According to the Good News shrine guide, the virgin couple Cho Suk and Kwon Cheon-rye, Yun Yu-o, Yun Jeom-hye, Kwon Sang-mun, Cho Yong-sam and Hong Ik-man were beatified by Pope Francis on August 16, 2014, in Gwanghwamun Square.

The Bishops’ Conference materials list as martyrdom sites the Yanggeun execution ground (area of lots 502–504 in Yanggeun-ri, Yangpyeong-eup today), the beheading site on the sandy beach near the so-called Omitdari where the Yanggeun Stream meets the Han River, and the site of the Yanggeun government office prison at the end of Yanggeun Eupmun 1-gil 9-beongil. According to a 2026 article in the Catholic Newspaper, Omitdari has disappeared and the area near Yanggeun Bridge about 1.7 km from the shrine is presumed to be the martyrdom site, and to commemorate it the martyrdom-symbol sculpture “Ladder to Eternity” was erected on Yanggang Island beside Yanggeun Bridge. A 2016 article reports that this sculpture was erected on Yanggeun Island and that, combining this martyrdom site with the former Yanggeun government office site near Yangpyeong Station, the recorded martyrs reach 14. Near Exit 2 of Yangpyeong Station stands a marker honoring the ancestors of faith martyred at the former Yanggeun government office.

Architecture and Space

A 2016 article in the Catholic Newspaper describes Yanggeun Shrine, built of red brick, as giving a homelike feeling, and its martyr statues as standing in the form of believers living out faith before martyrdom. According to a 2026 article, the shrine contains a Martyrs Memorial Church and the Stations of the Cross, statues of the virgin couple Cho Suk and Kwon Cheon-rye, statues of Kwon Il-sin and Yun Jeom-hye, statues of the brothers Kwon Cheol-sin and Kwon Il-sin, an outdoor altar with a statue of Jesus with outstretched arms, and a recreation of Omitdari to recall the martyrdom. The pavilion “Gamhojeong” beside the church takes its name from the former pavilion that stood on Gamhoam Rock about 1 km from the shrine along the Namhan River. It is said that scholars gathered at the former Gamhojeong to hold poetry meetings or discuss Western learning, and that Kwon Il-sin, fond of learning, moved from Galsan in Yanggeun-ri to near Gamhojeong in order to visit it often. The former Gamhojeong no longer remains, and Gamhoam Rock can be seen by motorboat on the shrine’s water pilgrimage course.

Neungmal in Dogok-ri, about 8 km from the shrine, is the hometown of faith ancestors including Justin Cho Dong-seom and his son Thomas Cho Sang-deok, Blessed Peter Cho Yong-sam and Cho Suk, and Thaddeus Cho Jung-gu and Cho In-dal martyred during the Byeongin Persecution, where descendants of the Hanheung-gun line of the Hanyang Cho clan have kept the faith in a clan village for over 400 years. The shrine erected a memorial monument to the martyrs there and blessed it on May 29, 2021, presided over by Diocesan Bishop Matthias Lee Yong-hun.

Significance for Faith and Visiting Context

A 2026 article in the Catholic Newspaper explains that Yanggeun is called the “cradle of the Korean Church” because, beyond being a land that produced many martyrs, the birth and growth of the early Korean Church and the history of evangelization and martyrdom all overlap there. The same article reports that through Yi Jon-chang and Yu Hang-geom the faith spread to Chungcheong-do and Jeolla-do.

Related Places and People

• Ambrose Kwon Cheol-sin and Francis Xavier Kwon Il-sin: brothers from Yanggeun who led the lectures at Jueosa in Cheonjinam, Servants of God.
• Blessed Peter Cho Suk and Teresa Kwon Cheon-rye: virgin couple from Yanggeun martyred outside Seosomun in August 1819.
• Blessed Sebastian Kwon Sang-mun: son of Kwon Il-sin and adopted son of Kwon Cheol-sin, beheaded in Yanggeun on January 30, 1802.
• Blessed Paul Yun Yu-il and James Yun Yu-o, Agatha Yun Jeom-hye, Lucia Yun Un-hye: martyred Blesseds from other regions who practiced the faith in Yanggeun.
• Cheonjinam Shrine and Gamhoam: the Jueosa and Cheonjinam area where lectures were held and the rock where Yanggeun scholars are said to have discussed learning.
• Yangpyeong Parish: a parish of the Yongin Vicariate continuing the Yanggeun ancestors of faith.

References and Sources

1. Catholic Good News online, Yanggeun Shrine (shrines and historic sites). Origin of the place name, early faith community and baptisms, martyred Blesseds and beatification in 2014.
   https://m.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2324
2. Episcopal Special Commission for Beatification and Canonization of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, related shrine Yanggeun Shrine. Meaning of the place name, martyred Blesseds and Servants of God from Yanggeun, martyrdom dates and sites.
   https://www.cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/34
3. Catholic Newspaper, [Pilgrimage, Walking and Praying] Yanggeun Shrine of the Suwon Diocese (2026-08-21). History of shrine development, martyrdom sites and sculptures, Gamhojeong, memorial monument at Neungmal in Dogok-ri.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/20260821500009
4. Catholic Newspaper, [Around Our Diocese] (12) Yanggeun Shrine and the former Yanggeun area (2016-06-29). Early Church history and martyrdom sites of the Yanggeun area, 14 recorded martyrs.
   https://www.catholictimes.org/article/201606290161574