Diocese of Jeonju
Martyrdom Site
Jeonju Prison Site
20, Hyeonmu 1-gil, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do, Republic of Korea
Thisis the site of the Jeonju Prison during the persecutions of the Joseon dynasty,where Catholics from all over the country were confined, interrogated, andtortured. Though filled with suffering, the prison became a place of prayer andwitness, where believers testified to God with all their strength, mind, andheart.
Atthis site, the youngest martyr in Korean history—복자 이봉금 아나스타시아(Blessed Anastasia Yi Bong-geum), only twelve years old—was hanged. Somemartyrs were imprisoned here for as long as twelve years, enduring continuousinterrogation and torture, yet gathering every night to read Scripture bylamplight and pray aloud together.
Information
About the Saint
Blessed John Yu Jung-cheol
Atsixteen, he received his First Communion from Father James Zhou Wen-mo, andexpressed his desire to live a life of chastity before the priest and hisfather. When Father Zhou later sought help for a young woman in Hanyang—이순이 루갈다(Blessed Ludgerie Yi Sun-i)—to preserve her vow of virginity, he arranged amarriage between her and John Yu.
Thecouple professed vows of chastity before his parents, resolving to live asbrother and sister. During the 1801 신유박해(Shin-yu Persecution), he wasarrested and imprisoned in Jeonju and was martyred by hanging at age 22. A notefound in his clothing after death read: “I encourage and console my sister(Lugarda). Let us meet again in heaven.”
Blessed Anastasia Yi Bong-geum
Anastasia was arrested with her mother, 김조이 아나스타시아(Anastasia Kim Jo-i). Becauseof her youth and gentle demeanor, the guards and jailers begged her to save herlife by yielding, but she refused every temptation. She had to witness themartyrdom of her mother inside the prison.
Themagistrate ordered that she be hanged in the middle of the night. She was nomore than twelve years old.
