Jeong Mong-ju and Jo Gwang-jo, Two Eras Embraced by Yongin

Walking through Yongin, there are moments when time seems to overlap. In Neungwon-ri, Mohyeon-eup, Cheoin-gu — a quiet neighborhood where rice paddies and low hills stretch on — rests a man often called the last loyal subject of the Goryeo dynasty. And in Sanghyeon-dong, Suji-gu, tucked among the trees between apartment complexes, rests a scholar who died dreaming of reform during the reign of King Jungjong of Joseon. The two men lived in entirely different eras and fought to protect entirely different things, yet today they rest side by side in the same city, Yongin. Today, let's slowly unfold the story of these two places — the tomb of Jeong Mong-ju and the tomb of Jo Gwang-jo.

Poeun Jeong Mong-ju, Resting in Mohyeon-eup

In Neungwon-ri, Mohyeon-eup, Cheoin-gu, stands the tomb of Poeun Jeong Mong-ju. Jeong Mong-ju was a leading scholar and loyal subject of the late Goryeo period, a name passed down through generations. Right beside his tomb sits Chungnyeol Seowon, a Confucian academy built to honor his memory — and to this day, both the tomb and the academy are preserved as cultural heritage sites designated by Gyeonggi Province. Neungwon-ri remains a quiet village today, with rice paddies, fields, and low hills stretching on, and I remember being quite struck the first time I learned that such an old story quietly holds its place amid this scenery. Maybe it's precisely because it isn't flashy or prominent that it draws you in even more.

But Jeong Mong-ju is not the only story resting in Yongin. If we let time flow a little further, we meet another name on the opposite side of the city, in Suji-gu. Long after Goryeo faded and Joseon took root, another name emerges — Jeongam Jo Gwang-jo.

Jeongam Jo Gwang-jo, Remembered in Sanghyeon-dong

In Sanghyeon-dong, Suji-gu, stand the tomb of Jo Gwang-jo and Simgok Seowon, the academy built in his honor. Jo Gwang-jo was a scholar who led reform efforts during the reign of King Jungjong of Joseon, but perhaps because those reforms were too radical, he was caught up in the incident known as the Gimyo Sahwa and forced to take his own life. In the end, he walked the path he believed was right all the way to its close, and that very path became where his life ended. Like Jeong Mong-ju's resting place, his tomb and Simgok Seowon are likewise designated cultural heritage sites of Gyeonggi Province and remain preserved to this day — and every time I see such a place standing in the middle of Sanghyeon-dong, now packed with apartment complexes, it strikes me anew.

The wish to preserve, and the wish to change. In some ways they look like opposite choices, but the two men also seem alike in that neither ever let go of what he believed, all the way to the end. Jeong Mong-ju sought to keep his loyalty before a fading kingdom, while Jo Gwang-jo sought to steer an already-established kingdom toward a better direction. Their directions differed, but both were people who refused to step back from where they stood.

And I find it truly special that these two hearts now rest side by side in the same city, Yongin. Two people who each lived out their own era at opposite ends of the city — Cheoin-gu and Suji-gu — have, in the end, become woven into the story of a single region. When I think of all this time layered behind neighborhood names I usually pass by without a second thought, the city of Yongin starts to look a little different to me.

🐉 A Mood Photo, via Yongi