Biography
Charles Hyon Song-mun
About Charles Hyon Song-mun
Charles Hyon Song-mun grew up in a Catholic family in Seoul. His father died during the persecution of 1801. His sister Benedicta Hyon Kyong-nyon also became a martyr.
Charles helped Paul Chong Ha-sang maintain contact with the church in Beijing and assisted efforts to bring priests to Korea. He accompanied Chastan on visits to Catholic communities and helped receive Bishop Laurence Imbert.
During the persecution of 1839, Imbert urged Charles to remain alive to care for Catholics. Charles visited communities, encouraged believers and collected support for people in need.
At Imbert’s request, Charles collected accounts of the martyrs. He combined this material with accounts gathered by other Catholics to compile the Gihae Diary, a record of the persecution.
Charles later accompanied Andrew Kim Tae-gon to Shanghai and helped maintain his household after returning to Korea.
After Andrew’s arrest in 1846, Charles moved church books and objects into hiding. He was arrested with other Catholics in July.
The church biography acknowledges conflicting accounts about whether he was tortured. Charles was executed at Saenamteo on September 19, 1846.
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