Unsung Heroes of Methodism: Yu Gwan-sun and Korean Methodism

Some have called Yu Gwan-sun the Korean “Joan of Arc” for her courageous role in the Korean independence movement. Today, she is celebrated as a national hero in South Korea. Yu was a Christian whose activism began while she was a student at a Methodist secondary school in Seoul and ended with her tragic death inside a Japanese prison.

Christianity in the Korean Peninsula

Yu Gwan-sun was born in Cheonan in 1902 into a Protestant family and was raised in the Christian faith.[1] Catholicism came to the Korean Peninsula in the Late 18th century.[2] Protestant missions began in the late 19th century. Though missionaries were tolerated in a society shaped largely by Buddhism and Confucian traditions, Christianity remained a minority faith, often viewed as foreign and bizarre by the majority of Koreans, in particularly among the upper classes. It spread gradually, primarily among rural and working-class communities.[3]

Early Methodist mission work was spearheaded by the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society, which focused much of its outreach on Korean women. The Methodists founded schools and institutions to educate and empower women. Among these was Ewha Haktang in Seoul. Established by missionary Mary F. Scranton, it was the first private secondary school for girls in Korea. Eventually, Ewha Haktang expanded to form two additional campuses offering high school and college-level education.[4]

Yu’s life and activism

As a child, Yu attended a Presbyterian primary school, where she excelled academically. Teachers noted her ability to memorize long passages of Scripture. With her family’s support, she moved to Seoul at age 13 to enroll at Ewha Haktang.[5]

In 1910, Japan formally annexed Korea and installed a governor-general to administer the territory. Japanese authorities exploited Korea’s resources and sought to suppress Korean language, culture, and identity.[6]

Schools and universities became centers of resistance, encouraging students to take pride in their heritage and stand up boldly for justice. Missionary schools such as Ewha Haktang fostered civic engagement and peaceful protest, drawing inspiration from contemporary social movements in the United States, including campaigns for women’s suffrage and workers’ rights.[7] Christian Koreans also refused to venerate the Japanese emperor as a divine being.

The death of the former Korean emperor in 1919 ignited nationwide demonstrations known as the March First Movement. Yu joined fellow students in a three-day demonstration at Pagoda Park in Seoul, calling for independence. The governor-general responded with mass arrests and ordered the closure of all schools in Seoul.[8]

Forced to return to her family home in Cheonan, Yu continued her activism. She mobilized thousands of demonstrators from 24 villages. On March 31, she climbed Mount Maebong and lit a signal fire to mark the start of a local protest. Japanese forces dispersed the crowd, killing 19 people and arresting many others.[9]

Yu was imprisoned, and Japanese authorities burned her family’s home in retaliation. Offered a reduced sentence in exchange for a confession and pressured to reveal information about fellow activists, she refused. During her trial, she publicly denounced the occupation of Korea and was sentenced to five years in prison.[10]

Even in captivity, Yu remained defiant. On the first anniversary of the March First Movement, she organized fellow prisoners in protest. Guards responded with brutal beatings. After months of torture and solitary confinement, Yu died from injuries inflicted by prison authorities on Sept. 28, 1920. She was only 17 years old.[11]

Initially, Japanese officials refused to release her body. Only after her former principals of Ewha Haktang demanded its return did authorities relent. Yu was buried in Seoul on Oct. 14. During World War II, her gravesite was destroyed to make way for a military base, and her remains were lost.[12]

Today, a shrine in Cheonan honors Yu’s memory, and Ewha Womans University holds an annual memorial service. Yu Gwan-sun remains a symbol of courage and patriotism in South Korea and an enduring example of women’s leadership in the struggle for justice.

The legacy of Korean Christianity

Yu was one of many Christian students who played a prominent role in the March First Movement. Of the 33 signers of the 1919 Korean Declaration of Independence, 16 were Christian. Recognizing the influence of churches and missionary schools, Japanese authorities intensified efforts to curb Christian growth in the years following Yu’s death.[13]

Japanese rule ended after World War II. Because of their visible role in the independence movement, Christians, including Methodists, gained a well-deserved reputation as patriots and were no longer seen as outsiders by their neighbors.[14] The witness of believers like Yu Gwan-sun reshaped public perceptions of Christianity in Korea. Today, nearly one-third of South Koreans identify as Christian.