CNU held an opening ceremony of the Yoon Sang-won Yeolsa Memorial Hall on the first floor of the annex building of the College of Social Science at CNU on May 2.

The ceremony was attended by more than 100 people including the family of Yoon, CNU professors, staff members and students, members of Yoon Sang-won Memorial Foundation, the May 18 Memorial Foundation, CNU Association of Minchunghakryon, CNU Democratic Fellow’s Association, President Jeong, and Park Seung-hyun (the President of the CNU Alumni Association).

Participants looked back on the life of Yoon and legacy as they pledged their responsibilities both as and to survivors.

President Jeong stated, “Yoon left a lasting legacy of perseverance to protect democracy, human rights, justice, freedom and peace, which are the universal values of humanity that CNU has upheld as its primary guiding principle. This memorial hall in the school he used to attend is not just a reservoir of personal records or list of what had happened in the past. Rather, we hope this memorial hall to be a meaningful space as a significant spot to remind people of the wildfire-like spirit of Yoon as he embraced the weak and shared the value of democracy from the vanguard.”

The Yun Sang-won Yeolsa Memorial Hall consists of “Yoon Sang-won's Room” and “Lane of Yoon Sang-won.” “Yoon Sang-won's Room” was inspired by the red brick building of the Gwangcheon-dong Catholic Church, which was the place where Yoon devoted himself to the education of workers at Deulbul Night School. The room exhibits records of Deulbul Night School and Yoon’s journal, lyrics of “March for the Beloved,” which was composed for Yoon’s spiritual marriage to Park Ki-soon Yeolsa, his colleague and soul mate, and a chronology with pictures of Yoon’s life from birth to solemn death.

The “Lane of Yoon Sang-won” symbolizes the life journey of Yoon which has become the light of democratization and history with his unconventional life and fierce struggle that led to his untimely death. In the form of wave, Yoon’s address scripts and journals with pictures of the May 18 Democratization Movement are located to let the visitors feel Yoon’s warm-hearted spirit and brings his beliefs to life in a tangible way.