On March 13, PCK Hapdong held a worship service of thanks following selection of the old Euiseong Police Station building and the first worship hall of Jung-ri Church (formerly Binggye Church; Rev. Go Gwan-gyu) in Euiseong, Gyeongbuk-do, as No. 4 and No. 5 Korean Christian Historical Sites, respectively. The selection was made in accord with the PCK Hapdong general assembly’s designation of them as historical sites.
Euiseong Police Station is the place where martyrs Rev. Ju Gi-cheol and Evangelist Gwon Jung-ha were subjected to all kinds of abuse in retaliation for their refusal to worship at the Shinto shrine during Japan’s occupation of Korea. Rev. Ju, who at the time had been working at Sanjeonghyeon Church in Pyongyang, was implicated in the “Nongwuhoe Incident,” a fabrication by the Japanese police for the purpose of wiping out Korean nationalist influence; Ju was detained in Euiseong Police Station and subjected to seven months of torture. The authorities arrested him as a figure related to “the central figure of the incident, Rev. Yu Jae-gi (Euiseong-eup Church), who as a student of Pyongyang Seminary organized a research group on Christian socialism and instilled in its members the spirit of struggle.”
The first worship hall of Jungri Church (photo below), designated No. 5 Historical Site, was the place of work of Evangelist Gwon, who rejected Gyeongbuk Presbytery’s resolution in favor of Shinto worship, was arrested and died a martyr in prison. The church was built on March 15, 1920, as a worship hall in traditional Korean style, with a four-kan (*One kan is a square-shaped space made by four supporting columns) facade and three-kan sides. According to Confucian custom, it had separate entrances for men and women, and a divider down the center of the hall that prevented them from seeing each other. In September 2016, Euiseong County, recognizing the value of the church in the history of modern construction, and Evangelist Gwon’s importance in the history of martyrdom, designated this church’s first worship hall and bell tower as Cultural Heritage No. 35.
Reporter Choi Ki-young (ky710@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)
Photos provided by PCK Hapdong General Assembly History Committee
Original Article in Korean:
주기철 목사 고문당한 옛 의성경찰서, 기독역사 사적지로: 예장합동, 3·1운동 100주년 앞두고 순교신앙 품은 장소들 사적지 지정
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PCK Hapdong Service Celebrates Reinstatement of Rev. Ju Gi-cheol After 77 Years
