Being Christian In North Korea

News broke this afternoon of an escalation of words between North Korea and President Donald Trump, with the President releasing a statement warning North Korea not to escalate the situation any further. “North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. He has been very threatening — beyond a normal statement — and as I said, they will be met with fire, fury and, frankly, power the likes of which the world has never seen before,” Trump said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at an event this afternoon. Tensions have already been high since American Otto Warmbier died after serving time in a North Korean prison.

As Faithwire has reported, it is widely understood that there is virtually no such thing as religious freedom in North Korea, but a new report is shedding light on just how dire the situation is for Christians living in the hermit kingdom. In a 15-page document titled Total Denial: Violations of Freedom of Religion or Belief in North Korea, British-based human rights advocacy organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide offers troubling details on how Kim Jong-Un’s regime tortures, mutilates, and kills Christians. As the report explains, religious freedom in North Korea is “largely non-existent” and faith-based persecution has been commonplace since the 1950s because religious beliefs are “seen as a threat to the loyalty demanded by the Supreme Leader.” While Christians are the main target of abuse, Buddhism and Shamanism are also practiced in the country and “suppressed to varying degrees.”

The 2017 World Watch List compiled by Open Doors lists North Korea as the “most oppressive place in the world for Christians” due to the country’s totalitarian regime and surveillance state that forces Christians “to hide their faith completely from government authorities, neighbors, and often, even their own spouses and children.” Many attempt to find freedom in South Korea or China, but those who are discovered are subject to imprisonment, labor camps, and, in extreme cases, death.

The CSW research further corroborated the Open Doors report, finding Christians “usually practice their faith in secret” as to avoid the punishment that awaits if they are found out. “If discovered they are subject to detention and then likely taken to political prison camps (kwanliso),” the document reads. “Crimes against them in these camps include extra-judicial killing extermination, enslavement/forced labour, forcible transfer of population, arbitrary imprisonment, torture, persecution, enforced disappearance, rape and sexual violence, and other inhumane acts.”

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