Jeonju Bishop John Kim Sontae on Sept. 1 announces at the Yuhanggeum Hall of Diocese of Jeonju in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do Province, details on the discovery of the remains of Korea's first Catholic martyrs. (Yonhap News)

By Sarah Oqelee and Lee Jihae

The remains of Korea's first recorded Catholic martyrs -- Paul Yun Ji-chung (1759-91) and James Kwon Sang-yeon (1751-91) -- have been discovered 230 years after their deaths.

The remains of Yun's younger brother Francis Yun Ji-heon (1764-1801) were also confirmed.

The Diocese of Jeonju in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do Province, on Sept. 1 said close anatomical and archaeological identification that it requested confirmed that the remains were of the two Yun brothers and Kwon. 

Yun Ji-chung and Kwon in 1791 were tortured and executed at the site of Jeongdong Catholic Cathedral in Jeonju in the 15th year of King Jeongjo's reign during the Shinhae Persecution, the nation's first crackdown on Catholics.

To comply with orders from the Catholic Church of Joseon at the time banning ancestral rites, the two martyrs had burned mortuary tablets used in traditional Korean funeral rites and instead held Catholic funerals, an act for which they were brutally tortured and killed. 

The two are considered the country's first recorded Catholic martyrs who gave their lives for their faith.

Francis Yun Ji-heon was killed and dismembered in 1801 during the Shinyu Persecution, another crackdown on Catholics, a decade after his older brother's death. 

Their remains were discovered at Chonami Shrine in the village of Namgye-ri of Iseo-myeon Township in Wanju-gun County, Jeollabuk-do Province.

The diocese said the remains of those believed to be martyrs were excavated on March 11 while the shrine was undergoing maintenance work. As they deciphered text inscribed on white porcelain bowls, they discovered that Tombs Nos. 5 and 3 contained the remains of Yun Ji-chung and Kwon, respectively, and those of Yun Ji-heon were in Tomb No. 8.

The names of the dead, dates of birth and death, records of their activities and direction of their tombs were inscribed on the bowls and buried with them.

Jeonju Bishop John Kim Sontae said in a written statement, "The discovery of the remains is a  truly monumental event," adding, "As our church grew through the blood of martyrs, we finally found the remains of the country's first martyrs from our church."

Chonami Shrine in Wanju-gun County, Jeollabuk-do Province, is where the remains of Catholic martyrs were discovered. (Diocese of Jeonju)

The remains of the three martyrs were discovered while Chonami Shrine was undergoing maintenance work (Diocese of Jeonju)