Biography
John Yi Mun-u
About John Yi Mun-u
John Yi Mun-u came from a Korean Catholic noble family and was adopted after his parents died. He moved to Seoul with his adoptive mother and later married. After the deaths of his wife and two children, he devoted himself to helping Catholics and missionaries.
Son Sukgyeong’s critical biography names his adoptive mother as Barbara Oh. John initially wished to remain unmarried, but agreed to marry at her request. After becoming a widower, he declined requests to marry again. In 1838, he studied with Paul Chong Ha-sang and Matthias Yi Sin-gyu under Bishop Imbert in preparation for a possible Korean clergy. Imbert appointed him a catechist.
He accompanied Peter Maubant on mission visits and collected money for imprisoned Catholics during the 1839 persecution. He helped hide the missionaries and later bury Laurence Imbert, Peter Maubant and Jacques Chastan. He was arrested before he could escape to a remote area and refused to abandon his faith.
Dallet’s history describes John carrying news to missionaries in hiding during the persecution. He was preparing to recover additional martyrs’ bodies before leaving Seoul when officials arrested him at the house where he slept.
In a prison letter preserved through Dallet’s French account, John described meeting about ten imprisoned Catholics whom he knew closely. He welcomed their companionship while they awaited death sentences. The long delay before further interrogation left him worried about his own failings. He recalled a severe beating and attributed his endurance to God’s help and the intercession of Mary and the saints.
The letter urged its recipients to continue reading, praying and meeting together despite the persecution. John wrote about the fear and religious abandonment he saw among surviving Catholics. He recommended meditation and the Stations of the Cross, and cautioned against postponing religious practice because of work or disagreements. Near the end, he regretted that he could not write separately to Theresa and Agatha. His words preserve personal concern for the community alongside his anxiety about approaching death.
The Korean Catholic Encyclopedia identifies the letter’s recipients as John’s adoptive parents. It places the French version among the martyr records assembled by Bishop Daveluy, on which Dallet drew for his history. This transmission preserves John’s words through translation rather than a surviving original manuscript. The encyclopedia also identifies a religious poem John composed in prison, called Okjung Jeseong. The poem and the letter are separate writings; the letter excerpt describes his experience and advice to those outside prison.
The bishops’ conference account reproduces an abridged letter written during his imprisonment. He was executed at Tang-kogae near Seoul on February 1, 1840.
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