SEOUL (UCAN): The Archdiocese Seoul signed an agreement with the civic administration to convert the historic Seosomun Shrine History Museum into a public facility on September 9. The site is dedicated to Korea’s first Catholic martyrs who were canonised by Pope St. John Paul II in 1984.
The museum commemorates a tragic period in the history of the Korean Church as the site was an official execution ground for the most infamous criminals and is a place where martyrs paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Of the 103 canonised, 44 were martyred at Seosomun, among them Yi Seung-hun, Korea’s first baptised Catholic, who died in 1801. Twenty-five out of 124 martyrs approved for beatification were beheaded at the gate and memorial tower is dedicated to them in the historic museum.
The meaning of “the museum grows when it becomes a living museum,” Andrew Cardinal Yeom Soo-jeong of Seoul, said after signing the agreement with the Jung-gu Ward Office.
Auxiliary Bishop Chung Soon-taek of Seoul; Father James Won Jong-hyeon, who is in charge of the museum; and Andrew Seo Yang-ho, head of the Jung-gu Ward Office; attended the signing ceremony.
The museum, opened in June, showcases the history of Catholicism in Korea during the Joseon dynasty when an estimated 10,000 Catholics were martyred during an ideological crackdown. It draws hundreds of visitors daily.
The government aided in the construction of the museum but entrusted its management with the archdiocese.
The museum showcases 136 artifacts such as woodblock prints of Songjadaejeon and Yeoyudangjeonseo and erstwhile Joseon dynasty writings.
Father Won, who worked to turn the museum a public facility, said the change would help to exchange relics and other artifacts with neighbouring museums.
Seosomun Shrine History Museum alsohas a special place in Korea’s modern history as a great number of reformists and pioneering patriots and followers of the Donghak movement sacrificed their lives.
During the Joseon dynasty, Confucianism was the official state ideology. The monarchy felt its authority was threatened by not only the Catholic faith, but also by the Donghaks, who advocated an egalitarian ideology.
The monarchy persecuted and martyred Catholics and the Donghaks in the Seosomun area.
The museum is not only a holy place for Catholics but also a sacred site for Donghak followers and other Korean nationalists.
