A bust of Seo Sang-don greets visitors at the office of Daegu Archdiocese in Daegu, the third-largest city in South Korea and a Catholic stronghold. Archbishop Thaddeus Cho Hwan-kil unveiled the bust in 2011 as part of activities to pay tribute to Seo ahead of the 100th anniversary of his death.
When Seo died in Seoul on June 30, 1913, Bishop Demange attended his funeral and paid homage by calling him “a great fellow and extraordinary craftsman who remained an ordinary man despite being rich.” “He served the Church and the Church also helped him. He accomplished a lot of good things. He donated the sites of Daegu Cathedral Church, bishop’s house, office, seminary and houses from missionaries. We should live up to his great virtues. We are very grateful to him,” Bishop Demange wrote in his diary, according to an article in Catholic Times by Andrew Lee Kyung-gyu, an emeritus professor at Daegu Catholic University.