Seosan Haemi Walled Town (Haemieupseong)

About this place

Haemieupseong is one of the most representative walled towns of the Joseon period. An eup-seong (town fortress) is a flatland fortress encircling a settlement; besides Haemieupseong, Gochang Fortress and Nagan Fortress are also famous. Haemieupseong was completed in 1491 (the 22nd year of King Seongjong), a stone fortress with a perimeter of approximately 1.8 km, standing 5 m high with a total area of 196,381 m², equipped with three gate towers on the east, south, and west. Recently restored, it has been developed into a historic park. It is also renowned as a martyrdom site of Joseon-era Catholics: during the persecutions, Haemieupseong—which housed the local government—saw numerous believers from across Chungcheong Province imprisoned, tortured, and executed. During the 1866 persecution alone, approximately 1,000 people were executed here. Within the fortress stands the site of the prison where Catholics arrested during the Daewongun era were held, and an old Chinese scholar tree (Sophora japonica)—over 300 years old—from which believers were hung by their hair in torture, still showing iron wire embedded in its trunk. Just outside the fortress gate, a stone called 'jajaedeol' marks where tortured believers were killed by being dashed against it.