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Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery

(Redirected from Seoul Foreigners' Cemetery at Yanghwajin)

Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery (Korean: 양화진외국인선교사묘원), also known as the Hapjeong-dong International Cemetery, is a cemetery overlooking the Han River in the district of Mapo District, Seoul, South Korea.

Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery
양화진외국인선교사묘원
Map
Details
Established1890
Location
Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul
(Public transit: line #2 Hapjeong Station exit #7, 10 minute walk away)
CountrySouth Korea
Coordinates37°32′48″N 126°54′40″E / 37.54655°N 126.91102°E / 37.54655; 126.91102
Websitewww.yanghwajin.net
Find a GraveYanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery
Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationYanghwajin Oegugin Seongyosa Myowon
McCune–ReischauerYanghwajin Oegugin Sŏn'gyosa Myowŏn

The cemetery was first opened in 1890, and contains at least 376 graves: around 118 of which belong to foreign missionaries and their family members. The cemetery survived the 1910–1945 Japanese colonial period and the 1950–1953 Korean War, and is remembered as a historic site for Korea's interactions with the West and Christianity.

History

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The creation of the cemetery was motivated by the death of Presbyterian minister John Heron on July 26, 1890. At the time, foreigners were not permitted to be buried in Seoul proper. The Korean government coordinated with the small foreigner community to find a plot of land suitable for burials.[1][2] Horace Newton Allen obtained the land rights of the bluff overlooking the Han River.[2]

During the 1950–1953 Korean War, damage occurred to a number of the grave markers; this damage is still visible.[3]

Ownership and maintenance controversy

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In 1956, the Kyungsung European-American Cemetery Association, an organization linked to Seoul Union Church, was granted management rights to the cemetery by the government. However, ownership of the land was reportedly not officially registered.[4] In 1961, President Park Chung Hee decreed that foreigners in South Korea were not allowed to own land. The grounds technically belonged to no one until the city of Seoul designated it a public park in 1965.[5]

In 1985, Horace Grant Underwood III, on behalf of Seoul Union Church, requested that a Korean organization called the Council for the 100th Anniversary of the Korean Church (henceforth "100th Anniversary Church") register the cemetery on behalf of the Seoul Union Church. The two churches reportedly agreed that Seoul Union Church would be the unofficial caretakers of the land. A year later, they built a chapel nearby called the Memorial Chapel: this served as the first permanent home for Seoul Union Church.[5] In 1979, the South Korean government expropriated a portion of the land for a construction project.[4]

Relations between the two groups were reportedly amicable until Underwood's death in 2004.[5][6] In 2005, the 100th Anniversary Church began sharing Memorial Chapel with Seoul Union Church in 2005. In addition, the 100th Anniversary Church reportedly informed Union Church that it would be taking over management of the facility, as they were the legal owners.[5] Tensions reportedly rose, with both groups publicly accusing the other of misconduct.[5] The 100th Anniversary Church alleged the Union Church was not taking adequate care of the cemetery and had been blocking sharing of the Memorial Chapel, and the Union Church criticized the 100th Anniversary Church's practice of using the pathways in the cemetery as excess parking spaces for the congregation, as well as going back on the good faith agreements between the groups.[6][5] The 100th Anniversary Church reportedly increasingly escalated active management over both the building and cemetery over time. In a spring 2007 meeting, they reportedly informed Union Church that they were no longer in charge of maintaining the cemetery.[6] On August 5, 2007, the Seoul Union Church congregation was locked out of Memorial Chapel. The 100th Anniversary Church reportedly compared the expulsion to the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong, where foreign-occupied territory was returned to the original owner.[7][8][9] Concurrently, they denied charges that the expulsion was motivated by nationalism.[8][7]

Statistics

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Estimated interments[10]
Burials Adults Children Total
Missionary community 83 38 118
Non-missionary, non-military 53 15 66
U.S. military-related 26 38 64
Unknown 44 31 75
Koreans 12 11[a] 23[a]
Totals 221 133 376[a]

Notable interments

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Homer Hulbert's Tombstone

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c These figures do not include the 23 known unmarked graves or the unknown number of Korean children from the Anglican orphanages buried on upper slope of the Anglican plot.

References

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  1. ^ Neff, Robert (2019-06-04). "[Joseon Images] Buried at Yanghwajin's cemetery for foreigners". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
  2. ^ a b 김, 승태, "양화진 외국인 선교사 묘원 (楊花津 外國人 宣敎師 廟院)", Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean), Academy of Korean Studies, retrieved 2024-06-08
  3. ^ "Yanghwajin Foreigners' Cemetery – Some who came to Korea stayed". Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
  4. ^ a b Underwood 2013, pp. 171–172.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Moon, Gwang-lip (2007-07-03). "Christians battle over historic cemetery". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
  6. ^ a b c Underwood 2013, p. 173.
  7. ^ a b Underwood 2013, p. 175.
  8. ^ a b Sang-Hun, Choe (2007-08-10). "Sides feud over 'God's land' in Seoul". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
  9. ^ Glionna, John M. (2009-10-12). "S. Korean cemetery rests at center of bitter dispute". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
  10. ^ Clark, Donald N., comp and ed. The Seoul Foreigners' Cemetery at Yanghwajin: An Informal History with Notes on Other Cemeteries in Korea and Individuals and Families in the History of the Foreign Community in Korea. Seoul: Seoul Union Church, 1998.
  11. ^ Sicherman, Barbara; Green, Carol Hurd (1980). Notable American Women: The Modern Period : a Biographical Dictionary. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674627338.

Sources

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  Media related to Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery at Wikimedia Commons

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