Christians ‘are tortured or shot by firing squad under Kim Jong Un’s regime’, US report claims
North Korea has sentenced a two-year-old to life in a detention camp after the toddler’s parents were found with a Bible.
The plight of the child, whose entire family was also imprisoned, was revealed in the new International Religious Freedom Report from the US State Department.
The publication also revealed several cases of North Koreans killed for their Christianity, such as the 2011 firing squad execution of a Christian woman and her grandchild.
In another case, a member of the ruling party was executed in front of an audience of 3,000 at Hyesan airport after being found in possession of a Bible.
Other believers were tortured by pigeons, hanging them with their hands tied behind their backs and unable to sit or stand for days.
Worshipers of the Chilgol Protestant Church in Pyongyang. A US report shows that North Koreans are being killed for being Christians
The report cites an estimate that up to 70,000 Christians are imprisoned for their faith under Kim Jong-un’s regime, out of a possible population of 400,000
“It was the most painful of all tortures,” one victim recalled. “It hurt so bad I thought it was better to die.”
And some were tortured with sleep deprivation.
A Christian woman in solitary confinement was driven to suicide in 2020 after prison guards refused to let her sleep, the new publication said.
Other horrors Christians must endure include starvation, dehydration, spoiled food, beatings, and being forced into painful positions for extended periods of time.
The report — which summarizes findings from several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), human rights organizations and the UN — paints a disturbing picture of Christian life in North Korea.
It cites an estimate that up to 70,000 Christians are imprisoned for their faith under Kim Jong-un’s regime, out of a possible population of 400,000.
Ostensibly, North Korea guarantees religious freedom to its people in its constitution — and the regime highlights the churches it has built in Pyongyang as proof.
But the publication said these churches acted only as “showpieces for foreigners.”
It quoted the testimony of a defector who said people could be arrested for loitering outside churches and listening to music from inside, or even consistently driving past churches.
Choristers in Pyongyang Church. American Ray Cunningham visited the church and said ‘I came away wondering how real this is’
Chilgol Protestant Church in Pyongyang from the outside. North Korea has highlighted the churches it has built in Pyongyang as proof of its religious tolerance
Ray Cunningham, from Homer, Illinois, visited Chilgol Protestant Church in Pyongyang during a service.
He said, “I came away wondering how real this is.
‘Are the services regular? The church appears to be maintained, but is it a regular event? In society you see no evidence of religious activity – except Buddhism.
“It feels real, but like many things it might be a bit of a show for tourists. In this case it could be a mixture of showmanship and a few elderly Christians around.”
He also noted something that was highlighted in the report: there are no children at the services.
A Western visitor to the church noted that no children were present at the services
A service is held in the Protestant Chilgol. Ray Cunningham, who visited the church, said: ‘It feels real but like many things it might be a bit of a show for tourists’
“The congregation was made up of older men—all apparently over 65—and women over 40,” he said.
“What you didn’t see were children or young people of working age.”
The new publication said many North Korean Christians hid their faith from their children.
It cited the finding of an NGO, Open Doors USA (ODUSA), who said, ‘A Christian is never safe.
“Children are encouraged to tell their teachers about any sign of faith in their parents’ home.”
Another NGO, Korea Future, said children were taught at school about the “evil deeds” of Christian missionaries, including “rape, bloodsucking, organ harvesting, murder and espionage.”
The report said: “A defector told Korea Future that the government published graphic novels in which Christians lured children to church and took them to the basement to have their blood drawn.”
And while most of the cases of religious persecution documented by Korea Future were against those who practiced shamanism, it was the Christians who normally received the harshest punishments.
A Korean Bible in Chilgol Protestant Church. In one case outlined in the report, a member of North Korea’s ruling party was executed after being in possession of a Bible.
It is because they are seen as a “hostile class” and a “serious threat to loyalty to the state,” the report said.
For shamanists, sentences range from six months in a forced labor camp to three or more years in a re-education center.
Christians, meanwhile, can be executed, or face 15 years to life in a prison camp, imposed on up to three generations of the guilty person’s immediate family.
The report reiterated ODUSA’s conclusion that ‘life for Christians is a constant cauldron of pressure; imprisonment or death is only a mistake away’.
Instead of religion, the Kim family demands worship for itself and its ideology of Juche — meaning national self-reliance, the publication said.
These provided a “form of state-sponsored theology,” it said.
The report explains: “Although the ideology does not explicitly state that the leaders are gods, they are described as ‘extraordinary beings’ capable of supernatural feats.”
One defector described being taught that bullets would rather change course than hit Kim Il-sung, the country’s founder and grandfather of Kim Jong-un.