Gangwon Shrine

Overview

Gangwon Gamyeong is the site of the Joseon-period government office of the governor of Gangwon-do in downtown Wonju, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, and the Catholic Diocese of Wonju introduces it as a martyrdom site of the Catholic faithful of the Joseon period. During the persecutions, many Catholics were brought here, suffered hardships, and were executed or died in prison, and Blessed Simon Kim Gang-i, John Choe Hae-seong, and Birgitta Choe were martyred here. The Gangwon Gamyeong site was designated as a historic site in 2002 and Seonhwadang Hall was designated as a treasure in 2021.

History

The Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture explains that Gangwon Gamyeong was where the governor resided and administered affairs, first established in 1395 (King Taejo 4) and maintained for 500 years until 1895 (King Gojong 32), when the 8 provincial system was changed to the 23 prefectural system. The Episcopal Commission for the Beatification and Canonization of the Bishops’ Conference notes that Gangwon Gamyeong was the center of local administration governing 26 bu, mok, gun, and hyeon in Gangwon-do during the Joseon period. Seonhwadang, the central building of the gamyeong, means ‘a building that promotes the king’s virtue and edifies the people,’ and the governor carried out administration, agricultural policy, taxation, trials, and other duties there. There were 31 buildings, including Seonhwadang, Jaeundang (the inner quarters), Pojeongnu (the main gate), the 4 Gate, the guest house and auxiliary buildings, but most were destroyed during the Imjin War, and the Bishops’ Conference materials report that the magistrate of Wonju rebuilt them in 1634. The Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture records that Magistrate Yi Bae-won began rebuilding in 1634 (King Injo 12) and Magistrate Yi Jung-gil completed it the following year, and that Inspector Yi Man-yeong began building Seonhwadang and the three gates in 1665 (King Hyeonjong 6), completed by Inspector Yi Hu-san in 1667. Under King Gojong, Governor Yun Byeong-jeong carried out extensive repairs between 1874 and 1875, when the buildings totaled 43 blocks and 495 kan. In 1950, most buildings collapsed and walls fell during the 6-25 War, and the large pond where Gwanpunggak stood was filled in. Before the merger of Wonju City and Wonseong County, it was for a time used as the Wonju County Office building.

The Good News shrine guide explains that Gangwon Gamyeong performed the jeongcheong duties of Gangwon-do for 500 years, so criminals from the Wonju area were dragged here, punished and executed at Seonhwadang, which served as the jeongcheong, and punishments were carried out not only for serious offenders such as national criminals but also for minor offenders. When persecution broke out, many Catholics were brought here, endured various hardships, and were executed. The Diocese of Wonju introduces Simon Kim Gang-i, John Choe Hae-seong, and Birgitta Choe, martyred here, as beatified in 2014.

Simon Kim Gang-i (1765?–1815) is the first martyr martyred at Gangwon Gamyeong. According to Bishops’ Conference materials, during the Sinyu Persecution in 1801 he was singled out as a leading believer and lived in hiding, and after the persecution ended he carried goods on his back for a living while preaching the Gospel, eventually settling in Uljin, Gangwon-do. After the Eulhae Persecution broke out in 1815, he was arrested together with his younger brother Thaddeus Kim Chang-gwi and his nephew Andrew Kim Sa-geon on the denunciation of a former servant, imprisoned in Andong, Gyeongsang-do, and later transferred to Gangwon Gamyeong, where he was sentenced to death but died in prison on December 5, 1815 from wounds caused by torture and dysentery contracted in prison. He was over 50 years old at the time. The Diocese of Wonju introduces him as a native of Seosan, Chungcheong-do who lived in Gosan, Jeolla-do after embracing the faith.

John Choe Hae-seong (1811–1839) was arrested during the Gihae Persecution in 1839, interrogated by the Wonju magistrate at Gangwon Gamyeong and then subjected to severe torture before the Gangwon inspector and the district magistrate, and was martyred by beheading on September 6. The Wonju Diocese shrine guide states that he underwent 21 interrogations and 18 sessions of torture, and Bishops’ Conference materials record that he was 28 years old at the time. Birgitta Choe, hearing that her nephew was imprisoned at Gangwon Gamyeong, went to visit him and, when asked whether she was Catholic, professed that she was a believer and was arrested. Under orders to starve her to death in prison, she endured 4 months of imprisonment and was martyred by hanging inside the prison, which Bishops’ Conference materials record as between December 8, 1839 and the night of the 9th, at the age of 56.

The Diocese of Wonju notes that while there are presumed sites of the prison and the beheading ground at Gangwon Gamyeong, their exact locations have not been identified. The Good News guide explains that even the presumed sites are now occupied by buildings, making restoration difficult. According to the photo caption in the Bishops’ Conference materials, the locations of the prison and Seonhwadang can be confirmed on the map of Gangwon Gamyeong included in the Gwandonji (1829–1831).

Architecture and Space

The Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture records that the Gangwon Gamyeong site covers about 9,608.6 square meters and was designated as a historic site on March 9, 2002, and that excavations conducted since 2000 uncovered building sites and pond sites. Pojeongnu Pavilion inside the gamyeong site was designated as Gangwon-do Tangible Cultural Property (now Tangible Cultural Heritage) in 1971, and Seonhwadang was designated as a treasure in 2021. The Good News guide explains that when it was designated on December 16, 1971 as Gangwon-do Tangible Cultural Property No. 3, its name was ‘Gangwon Gamyeong (Gate Pavilion and Seonhwadang),’ but on January 17, 2004 it was changed to ‘Pojeongnu and Seonhwadang.’

The Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture explains that the gate pavilion is a 2-story pavilion measuring 3 kan at the front and 2 kan at the side, built in the ikgong style with a hipped-and-gabled roof and double eaves, and that Seonhwadang is a single-story house measuring 7 kan at the front and 2 kan at the side, with double-eaved hipped-and-gabled roofing in the iikgong style. Today, the surviving old buildings are the gate pavilion, Seonhwadang, and Cheongundang. Bishops’ Conference materials note that only these buildings remained until restoration work in 2018 left a total of 12 wooden buildings standing. According to the Good News guide, the City of Wonju demolished the Wonju City No. 2 government building that stood on the Gangwon Gamyeong site and carried out continuous excavation and restoration, holding a completion ceremony to commemorate the restoration on November 2018.

Religious Significance and Visiting Context

The Good News guide explains that few people know that Pojeongnu and Seonhwadang were sites of persecution where the blood of martyrdom was shed. The Diocese of Wonju introduces Gangwon Gamyeong as a martyrdom site of the Catholic faithful of the Joseon period, and Section 2-1 of the Wonju Diocesan Pilgrimage Route, the ‘John Choe Hae-seong Martyrdom Route,’ is presented as a course following the road by which John Choe Hae-seong, who lived in Seoji Village January 1839, was dragged to Gangwon Gamyeong.

Related Places and People

• Seoji Village: a Catholic village in Buron-myeon where John Choe Hae-seong and Birgitta Choe lived, and a martyrdom heritage site of the Diocese of Wonju.
• Blessed Simon Kim Gang-i (1765?–1815): the first martyr martyred at Gangwon Gamyeong.
• Blessed John Choe Hae-seong (1811–1839): martyred by beheading on September 6, 1839.
• Blessed Birgitta Choe (1783–1839): paternal aunt of John Choe Hae-seong, martyred in prison on December 1839.

References and Sources

1. Diocese of Wonju, Shrines and Historic Sites: Gangwon Gamyeong. Confirmed the martyrs and that the locations of the prison site and beheading site are unknown.
   http://www.wjcatholic.or.kr/shrine/view?ca=%EA%B0%95%EC%9B%90%EA%B0%90%EC%98%81
2. Episcopal Commission for the Beatification and Canonization of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, Related Shrine: Gangwon Gamyeong. Confirmed the history of the gamyeong and the martyrdom of the three blesseds.
   https://cbck.or.kr/koreanmartyrs/Shrines/25
3. Good News of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, Shrines and Historic Sites: Gangwon Gamyeong in Wonju. Confirmed the function of the gamyeong at the time of persecution, the cultural heritage designations, and the completion of restoration in 2018.
   https://app.catholic.or.kr/web/holyplace/?seq=2273
4. Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture, Gangwon Gamyeong in Wonju. Confirmed the establishment, rebuilding and repair history of the gamyeong, the historic site and treasure designations, and the building structures.
   https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0067289
5. Wonju Diocese Pilgrimage Route, Section 2-1: John Choe Hae-seong Martyrdom Route. Confirmed the road along which John Choe Hae-seong was dragged and the numbers of interrogations and tortures.
   https://sunraegil.seoji.net/course/course_8