The history of protestant Christianity in Korea stretches back more than a century, and if there are any places in the country that could be easily associated with the word ?ilgrimage?this place would definitely make the list.

Welcome to Yanghwajin Foreigners' Cemetery in Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu district of downtown Seoul, where some of the noted western missionaries who made a big difference in modern Korean society (religious and secular), rest in peace. First founded in 1890, some 500 overseas nationals lie in the place until today.

?his place isn't exactly for laughter and snacks,?the guide of Yanghwajin Cemetery said when I ventured to find out more about the place. ?e respectful when you tread this ground,?I was reminded.

A site to be revered

Upon arrival I was ushered into the education hall where already a flock of people were gathered to watch the slides about one of the early missionary families in Korea: James Hall, who died while treating the poor and the sick; his wife Charlotte Sherwood Hall, who began the first education for the blind in Korea; and their son Sherwood Hall, who began a Christmas seal campaign to help wipe out tuberculosis in Korea.

The English interpreter was next to the guide to tell the story. The newly prepared Yanghwajin Hall, meanwhile displays projections of Bible verses, more slides, early Bibles and other missionary artifacts.

Outside in the graveyard, tablets of all shapes, ages and inscriptions greeted the visitors, evidencing early missionaries' dedication to Korea. Two gravestones stood out among the rest, bearing the signpost of the Order of Merit for National Foundation bestowed by the Korean government.

?an of Vision and Friend of Korea - I would rather be buried in Korea then in Westminster Abbey,?says the epitaph belonging to Homer Bezaleel Hulbert (1863-1949). Hulbert assisted Korean Emperor Gojong (1852-1919) in attempting to save the nation from colonization by Japan, and even after getting expelled from the country, spent most of his life speaking in support of Korea's sovereignty.






Another hero is Ernest Thomas Bethel (1872-1909), not a missionary but a journalist who also took the lead in publicizing the injustice Koreans suffered under Japanese rule through his bilingual newspapers during the pre-colonial era. He died at age 37 after being legally harassed by Japan's government and tied up in legal cases in China. The inscription next to his grave praising his deeds were chiseled out of the stone during the colonial period (1910-1945), but was restored after Korea's liberation in 1964.

?ot to Be ministered Unto But to Minister?wrote Alice Appenzeller (1885~1950) who dedicated her life to women's education in Korea as the 6th head of what is now Ewha Womens' University. Close to her stands the monument to her father Henry Gerhart Appenzeller (1858-1902) the first Methodist in Korea and founder of Pai Chai Education Institute, who drowned in a shipwreck at Mokpo while trying to save a Korean girl.






?f I had thousand lives to give, Korea should have them all,?wrote the gravestone of Ruby Rachel Kendrick (1883-1908) another missionary who died at age 24, only eight months after she arrived in Korea. Her death inspired other missionaries to come and take her place later as that was her last will.

Down below the hill lie gravestones and monuments of the Underwood Family who have served Korea for four generations through good and bad -- mostly the bad, namely the colonial period, the Korean War, political instability and rapid industrialization. Starting with Horace Grant Underwood (1859-1916) they contributed to publishing not only revised Bibles but also early dictionaries and grammar books, building the publishing industry.

The first Presbyterian church in Korea (Saemunan) as well as the nation's top-notch private Yonsei University were both founded by Underwoods. Three generations of Horace Grant's sons have followed in his footsteps by living in Korea and serving as missionaries, educators and even soldiers of liberation. (The last descendant of the first Underwood still works in Korea as a business consultant and aims to be buried at the cemetery.)

A slightly more solemn sight can be seen at the lower corner of the cemetery, where lost babies of missionary families were interred. Also, some gravestones bear the mark of bullets as witness to the Korean War (1950-53) that ravaged parts of Seoul.

Still loved and visited

The region of Yanghwajin was once a key point for transportation and national defense, due to its proximity to the Han River. This was where Chinese and Japanese forces alternately looked to make advances into Korea during late 16th and early 17 centuries. It was also the place where Koreans fought off French ships in the late 19th century, a site where new and old cultures collided.

In 1890, shortly after Korea opened her doors to the West, one medical missionary John W. Heron (1850-1890), serving the sick in the country, passed away due to dysentery brought on by overwork. Because it was summer and the usual burial site for foreigners in Jemulpo (Incheon) was too far away, his colleagues tried to find new place to put him to rest quickly. Based on the commercial treaty Korea had concluded with Britain earlier that guaranteed a free burial ground, Heron was offered the present Yanghwajin cemetery. Thus was the first modern cemetery established in Korea.

In May 2008 alone Yanghwajin was frequented by 5,500 visitors, not counting those who came individually without reservations for a guide. Over 85 percent are Korean churchgoers led by their religious leader, students from mission schools and theological seminaries.  The place is especially popular with would-be missionaries in Korea considering going abroad.

?ith people showing more interest in the park, the number of visitors to the cemetery is on the rise, church people coming from Busan, Jeolla, even Jejudo Island?one of the guides taking reservations said. ?ast year alone we provided 22,000 group tours. We have already surpassed that figure in the early half of this year.?The figure excludes those who come individually, especially in the second and fourth Saturday of each month that record an average of 1,500 visitors.

Aside from occasional visits from the surviving families of missionaries who lived in Korea, the Korean church also invites descendants living abroad for special occasions like death anniversaries. Just last year at the 58th death anniversary of Homer Hulbert, his 86-year old grand daughter Judith Adams visited the grave at the invitation of the Hulbert Memorial Society.

Appenzeller's great granddaughter Laura Marie Appenzeller also visited the site back in 2005 to express her pride for her ancestors. Also in the same year William Linton III, touched by the growth of Korea's Hannam University that his missionary grandfather William A. Linton (1891-1960) founded in 1956, set up a joint Hannam-Promega Biopharmaceutical Technology Center Institute there.

?he early missionaries of the 19th century went beyond just spreading the gospel. They raised education, built schools, hospitals and orphanages, bolstered the publishing industry and other reform measures that made them an indispensable part of modern Korean society,?the guide said. And therein lies Korea's new hope as the country that sends the second largest number of Christian missionaries abroad after the United States ?to be of equal service to the parts of world in need. 

To get to Yanghwajin Foreigners' Cemetery (also called Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery), take subway line No.2 or No. 6 to Hapjeong Station and head to exit 7. Signs will lead you to the narrow lane where the park is. (Address: 145 Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul) 

Guided tours are available from Monday to Saturday at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Yanghwajin Hall is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For Internet reservations visit the website http://www.yanghwajin.net/ or call 02-332-9174 (Korean only). Refer to Korea Travel phone 1330 for an interpretation service. English guides are available on Thursdays and Saturdays.

(Editor's note: Though non-missionaries who died in Korea are also buried here, the hall and guided tour are primarily focused on celebrating and preserving the heritage of Christian missionaries. There is some controversy about this, as there is about the name and ownership of the cemetery.)

By Kim Hee-sung
Korea.net staff writer

SOURCE : Korea.net