South Korea: Yakhyeon Church

2014 February Visit

Do you still remember Father Adriane from Love Letter (Jo Hyun-jae as Lee Woo Jin) in 2003 MBC series?  He shed a tear during his ordination in Episode 1.

Before leaving for this trip (Feb 2014), I bump into Yoona’s series Prime Minister, it is her wedding scene, and I suddenly remember the church – I said in an instant, I’ll find it and will be there in case it happened to be in Seoul.

Yakhyeon Catholic Church (Yaghyun Parish Church) was the first Catholic and western style church ever built in Korea in 1892. Designed by Father Eugene Jean George Coste (who had also designed Myeongdong Cathedral) is an example of Gothic architecture.

Yaghyun means a hill of herbs and is named because the area was filled with many herbs.

K-Drama Filming Location:
This weekend I happened to finish the series, there are other scenes taken from this drama:

The K2 (TvN, Sept-Nov 2016) - Ji Chang-wook, Im Yoon-ah

Black Knight: The Man Who Guards Me (KBS, Dec 2017) Episode 02

When Jang Baek-Hee (Jang Mi-Hee) confesses to a nun about her age and what she need to do to live peacefully.


2017 November Visit
I has a long sleep and missed the supposedly English mass that I'll attend to in the morning.  Thus, I was looking for an English Mass at night and was not confident enough if other churches celebrates masses at night.  I headed to Yakhyeon to attend the mass.  Although it is in local language, I was following the mass with the help of mass guide and readings.

I did not roam around the area this time, because there are few lights on the parking area.  I even used the torch lamp from my phone because I had difficulty passing through the stairs back to the main road.

How to get to Yakhyeon Church?

• Take Seoul Subway Line 2, to Chungjeongno Station (Green), take Exit 5. 
• Walk 5-10 minutes, you'll see banners with priest's photo (this is the back entrance).  
• Take the uphill road going to the church. [map]

Yakhyeon Catholic Church (Jungnimdong Catholic Church, St Joseph Church)

서울 중구 중림동 149-2 Jungnim-dong 149-2, Jung-gu, Seoul, Seoul

(서울 중구 중림로 27) 27 Jungnyim-no, Jung-gu, Seoul

Looks like there is no Sunday English mass in Yakhyeon.
[Mass Schedule - http://www.yakhyeon.or.kr/app/intro/mass.html]
Sunday: 6.00pm (vigil), 6.00am, 9.30am, 11.00am, 6.00pm

Other Catholic Churches in Seoul with English Mass:

• English Mass in Seoul
• Myeongdong Cathedral
• http://www.korea4expats.com/article-catholic-churches-seoul.html
• Weekday Masses Schedule

Summary of 3 days itinerary in 2014 Seoul Trip:

Day	Places to see	Food and Restaurants	Where to Sleep
Day 1	Yakhyeon Church Culture Station Seoul Everland	Late Dinner at 2am in near GS25, Myeongdong Exit 8 Breakfast at Droptop Lunch at Basement Hole in the Wall Japanese Restaurant (Gangnam) Mango Six (Gangnam) Dinner at Tokyo - Japanese Restaurant (Gangnam)	K-pop Residence II in Myeongdong
Day 2	Jade Garden Petite France	Breakfast at De Chocolate Café (Chungmuro) Lunch at Restaurant in Jade Garden Dinner at Basement Hole in the Wall Korean Restaurant (Myeongdong)	K-pop Residence II
Day 3	Secret Garden Insadong Stroll until Myeongdong	Paris Croissant (Anguk) Dinner at Basement Hole in the Wall Korean Restaurant (Insadong) Paris Baguette (Myeongdong)	K-pop Residence II