Monument to Go Gyeong-myeong

Go Gyeong-myeong (1533–1592) was a civil official of the mid-Joseon period. In 1592 (the 25th year of King Seonjo's reign), upon hearing that Seoul had fallen and the king had fled to Uiju during the Japanese invasions of Korea (Imjin War), he raised a righteous army of about 6,000 men in his hometown of Jangheung and was appointed as its leader. After obtaining intelligence that Japanese forces occupying Geumsan planned to pass through Jeonju and attack the Honam region, he sent a letter to Jo Heon, the commander of the Chungcheong righteous army, proposing that they cross the Hyang River together to attack the Japanese in Geumsan. When they reached Jinsan, they encountered Japanese troops advancing toward Jeonju and fought bravely; realizing their disadvantage, the enemy gradually retreated to Geumsanseong Fortress. Upon arriving in Geumsan, he joined forces with Defense Commander Gwak Yeong to attack the Japanese, but they were surrounded by the enemy in a snowy field and all perished in battle. Grieving his death, King Seonjo ordered shrines to be built in his honor at Pyochungsa in Gwangju and Jungyongsa in Geumsan to commemorate his loyalty.

In the 7th year of King Hyojong's reign, Geumsan County Magistrate Yeo Pil-gwan composed the epitaph, and a monument was erected on the opposite hillside after his death, but it was destroyed by the atrocities of the Japanese police. Later, the fragments of the monument were gathered and stored inside a pavilion, and descendants re-engraved Yeo Pil-gwan's epitaph to restore it, also constructing a stone pavilion. The site of the martyrdom monument is on the opposite hillside from where he fell.