The Haemi Martyrdom Holy Ground in South Korea's central Chungcheong provincial city of Seosan has been named an international pilgrimage site by the Vatican.

The Seosan city government announced on Tuesday that the Vatican made the proclamation on March 1.

Also known as the Shrine of Haemi, it is the second such site in South Korea, following the Vatican's designation of the Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage Routes in September 2018.

The Haemi Martyrdom Holy Ground is where about two-thousand Catholics in the central region were buried alive during mass persecution of Korean Catholics by the Joseon Dynasty from 1866 to 1882.

A 16-meter memorial tower was set up to pay tribute to the nameless martyrs. There are only 132 martyred Korean Catholics with their names or baptismal names recorded.

Other existing international pilgrimage sites include three historical cities - Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago - and 20 sites of Marian apparitions across the world.