SEOUL (UCAN): Church officials and government representatives in South Korea have agreed to issue commemorative medals to mark the 200th birth anniversary of the first Korean martyr, St. Andrew Kim Taegon (1821 to 1846), as part of the celebrations slated for May 2021 in Dangjin, South Chungcheong province.
Bishop Lazarus You Heung-sik of Daejeon, Dangjin mayor, Kim Hong-jang, and Korea Mint Corporation president, Cho Yong-man, signed an agreement on October 26 to issue 200 gold, 2,000 silver and 10,000 bronze medals in honour of the saint by the beginning of December.
The medal will bear an image St. Andrew Kim, his autograph on one side against the background of the Myeongdong Cathedral. On the other will bear his recognition as a universal patron by UNESCO.
The proceeds from the medal sales will be set aside for combating the Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic.
“I expect that through the production of commemorative medals, the 200th birth anniversary of St. Andrew Kim will be more meaningful,” mayor, Kim Hong-jang said.
UNESCO recognised the patronage of St. Andrew Kim in November 2019 during the 40th general conference held in Paris.
In 2018, the Korean Bishops’ Conference had decided to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the 19th-century saint, who was beheaded in Seoul on 16 September 1846, during the Joseon dynasty persecutions.
He was one of the 103 Korean martyrs canonised by Pope St. John Paul II on 6 May 1984.
