Her original name is Hong-Sun Youn. Julia is her baptismal name and Kim is her husband’s last name. She was born in Naju in 1947. Her father was a school teacher and a scholar in Chinese literature. In 1950, when the Korean War broke out, her grandfather and father were killed by the Communist soldiers. Her younger sister also died of an illness. Julia, with her mother, began experiencing extreme poverty and had to work hard for survival. She could not finish junior high school because of the poverty.

In 1972, Julia married Julio Kim. Julio works for the City of Naju, in its agricultural department.

They have four children — two sons and two daughters. Later, Julia’s health deteriorated because of cancer and other accompanying illnesses. After several surgeries, her doctors said there was no hope.

While Julia was waiting for death, her husband took her to a Catholic priest. After hearing Julia’s story, the priest consoled her by saying that her sufferings were blessings from God.

Julia felt her body becoming warm and sweating and was soon healed completely. She began a fervent prayer life. She opened a beauty salon and became quite successful.  (A few years later, she closed the salon.)

One night, at 3 a.m., Julia saw a vision of Our Lord bleeding miserably, especially from His Heart, which was torn by human sins. Julia was deeply moved and promised a life of reparation for the sins in the world. Miraculously, she began suffering severe pains again. Julia also received the Stigmata, the wounds of Our Lord. These Stigmata usually last for several days and disappear. They reappear later. On June 30, 1985, Julia saw Our Lady’s statue in her room weeping for the first time. Two and a half weeks later, on July 18, she received the first message from Our Lady. On October 19, 1986, clear tears turned into bloody tears. Julia has continued receiving messages and suffering pains. Other miracles have also continued — fragrant oil from Our Lady’s statue, the fragrance of roses, healings of incurable illnesses, and Eucharistic miracles.