YeonggwangChurch was designated a Martyrs Memorial Church in 2010 to commemorate YiHwa-baek of Yeonggwang and a woman of the Bok-san Yi clan whose name isunknown, both martyred in Yeonggwang during the Shinyu Persecution of 1801.

Fromthe earliest years of the Korean Catholic Church, evangelizers such as YuHang-geom brought the faith to the region. Among those who practiced thefaith—Yi Hwa-baek, the woman of the Bok-san Yi clan, Yi U-jip, Yi Jong-jip, NamJo-i, and Choi Il-an—the 1801 persecution erupted. Yi Hwa-baek and theunidentified woman were executed in Yeonggwang; Yi U-jip and Choi Il-an wereexecuted in Jeonju; Yi Jong-jip and Nam Jo-i were exiled to Munhwa and Eun-yulin Hwanghae Province; and Hong Sun-hui, daughter of the notable Kang Wan-suk,was also exiled to Yeonggwang.

Later,Kim Chi-myeong of Tteumbat, Yeonggwang, was executed in Gongju during theByeongin Persecution in 1867, and Paul Yu Mun-bo, once a resident of Sineo-silin Yeonggwang, died a martyr in prison atNaju in1872.