Sotaesan Park Jung-bin, the founder of Won Buddhism, first achieved enlightenment and laid the groundwork for his movement in Yeonggwang, South Jeolla Province, in 1916. And yet the actual center of the religion didn't end up in Yeonggwang — it ended up in Iksan. In April 1924, Sotaesan held the founding assembly of the Bulbeop Yeonguhoe (Society for the Study of Buddha-dharma) at Bogwangsa Temple in Iri, and that September began building the headquarters compound on undeveloped land in Sinyong-dong (then Sillyong-ri, Bugil-myeon, Iksan County). This site is what's known today as Won Buddhism's Iksan Sacred Site, its central headquarters.
The compound still preserves its original buildings from that founding era in their original form — eight structures and two pagodas in all, including the Bonwonsil, the first building constructed here in September 1924, and Geumgangwon, built in 1927 as Sotaesan's personal residence. What stands out is that Won Buddhism isn't a religion imported from abroad — it's a genuinely homegrown Korean new religious movement — and its central headquarters ended up not in Seoul or a major city, but on what was, at the time, essentially undeveloped land on the outskirts of Iksan. Won Buddhism has since grown into a religious body with millions of followers in Korea and abroad, but the starting point for the whole story remains these quiet old buildings in Sinyong-dong. Placed alongside Nabawi Church (Catholicism) and Dudong Church (Protestantism), this site makes it clear that modern Iksan is a place where three very different religions each put down roots in their own distinct way.