09/07/2021 South Korea (International Christian Concern) – On September 1, the Diocese of Jeonju announced that the remains of the first three Korean Catholic martyrs have been recovered more than two centuries after their deaths.

Following historical research and DNA tests, the remains were confirmed to be those of Paul Yun Ji-chung and James Kwon Sang-yeon, who were beheaded in 1791, and Yun’s younger brother Francis Yun Ji-heon, who was quartered in 1801.

The three were beatified by Pope Francis, when he was visiting South Korea in 2014, along with 121 other martyrs persecuted and killed during the rule of the Joseon dynasty in Korea.

According to the diocese, the remains were found in March in Wanju, just outside of Jeonju, near the burial grounds of another beatified person’s family members during work to convert the site into a sanctuary.

Bishop John Kim Son-tae, head of the Jeonju diocese, said in a statement, “The discovery of the remains is a truly amazing and monumental event.”

“This is because our Church, which has grown on the foundation of the bloodshed by martyrs, has finally found the remains of the people who began the history of martyrdom,” he added.

UCA News reported that during that era, Catholics faced persecution and hardships from rulers who viewed the religion as a subversive influence. Korean rulers began to see Catholicism as a false religion that denied Confucian ethics and invited Western imperialism to the country.

The persecution in the late 18th and 19th centuries took the lives of thousands of Catholics since they refused to renounce their faith. The largest persecution in 1866 produced some 8,000 martyrs.

For interviews, please contact Addison Parker: press@persecution.org.