World Religions › Early modern › Christianity in Korea
Korean Catholic martyrs
Persecutions 1791–1866· Event· Judaism, Christianity & Islam
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
Thousands of Korean Catholics were executed between 1791 and 1866 for refusing to give up their faith.
See it on the World Religions map →What it is
Joseon's rulers saw Catholicism as a threat because converts refused ancestral rites, the heart of Confucian order. In 1791 Yun Ji-chung was beheaded for burning his late mother's ancestral tablet. Major persecutions followed in 1801, 1839, 1846 and 1866. Andrew Kim Dae-geon (김대건), the first Korean-born priest, was executed in 1846. The 1866 Byeongin persecution alone killed an estimated 8,000 or more, including nine French missionaries. Pope John Paul II canonized 103 martyrs in Seoul in 1984.
Why it matters
The martyrs became central to Korean Catholic identity and gave Korea one of the largest groups of Catholic saints of any country; Pope Francis beatified 124 more in 2014.
Sources and history
Joseon court annals and interrogation records, Hwang Sa-yeong's 1801 'Silk Letter', French missionaries' letters, Bishop Daveluy's collected martyr accounts, and Vatican canonization files.
Questions and debates
Total deaths are uncertain; estimates for all the persecutions together are commonly put at 10,000 or more, and many victims' names were never recorded.
Connections (2)
▸Joseon Korea's Confucian state persecuted Korean Catholic martyrsHistorical record
The connection
Joseon's Neo-Confucian order rested on ancestral rites and loyalty to king and family. When Catholics stopped performing those rites, which their church ruled idolatrous, they seemed to attack the state itself. Court factions also used anti-Catholic purges against rivals. The result was waves of arrests and executions from 1791 to 1866.
When and where
Across Joseon Korea, especially around Seoul and in Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces; persecutions of 1791, 1801, 1839, 1846 and 1866, the last under the regent Heungseon Daewongun.
Historical evidence
Joseon royal annals and interrogation records list charges and executions; Catholic accounts and French missionaries' letters describe the same events.
Questions and debates
Historians weigh how much the purges were about faith versus factional politics, as in 1801, when a rival faction targeted Southerner (Namin) officials with Catholic ties.
▸Pope John Paul II canonized 103 of the Korean Catholic martyrsHistorical record
The connection
On May 6, 1984, marking 200 years of Korean Catholicism, John Paul II canonized 103 martyrs at Yeouido Plaza in Seoul before a vast crowd. It was the first canonization held outside Rome in centuries. The saints included Andrew Kim Dae-geon (김대건), Korea's first native-born priest, and lay leader Paul Jeong Ha-sang (정하상).
When and where
Yeouido, Seoul, May 6, 1984; the martyrs died in persecutions of 1839, 1846 and 1866.
Historical evidence
Vatican canonization records and extensive press and film coverage; Pope Francis beatified 124 more Korean martyrs in Seoul in 2014.
Questions and debates
Thousands of other martyrs remain unnamed; the 103 were those whose cases had enough surviving documentation for canonization.