Country Profile - North Korea
Population: 23 million
Capital: Pyongyang
Government type: Communist dictatorship
Religion: Non-religious 56%; Atheist 16%; Neoreligionist 13%; Ethnoreligionist 12%; Christian 2%
Closed society
North Korea is one of the most repressive regimes in the world.
The extent of its brutality is unknown because it remains fiercely independent and politically isolated.
But the testimonies of defectors describe a society where human rights do not exist and freedom of association, worship, movement -- even thought -- are denied.
North Korea was formed at the end of the second world war, when the Korean peninsula was divided into a Soviet-sponsored Communist north and a US-backed south.
Its first leader Kim Il Sung (1948-1994) built a personality cult around himself, the 'Great Leader', which requires all citizens to venerate him. His son, Kim Jong Il, the current head of state, is also worshipped as 'Dear Leader'.
This is teamed with a government ideology named juche ('self-reliance'), a political safeguard against foreign influence.
The result is the 'hermit kingdom', a regime based on fear where dissent is brutally quashed and abuses are largely hidden from foreign scrutiny.
Costly faith
Citizens are obliged by law to display portraits of the late Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in their homes.
Having another faith is highly subversive. Anyone refusing to accept the Korean leader as the supreme authority is likely to be punished.
The precise number of Christians in North Korea is unknown. Before the Communists came to power, there were said to be 300,000 believers but, during the Korean War (1950-53), most fled to South Korea or were martyred.
The few thousand said to remain in North Korea are forced to hide their faith -- or face terrible consequences. People have reportedly been executed just for owning a Bible.
Many Christians have been sent to death camps for 'political prisoners' and subjected to brutal treatment in appalling conditions: torture, abuse, execution or simply being worked to death. Entire families are known to have been imprisoned if just one member is found to be a Christian.
And still, the regime maintains the façade of religious freedom. As recently as 1998, it opened three churches in Pyongyang. However, these are widely considered to be showcases for foreigners: sermons contain political material supporting the regime.
Vicious cycle
The harsh regime and grinding poverty have forced thousands of North Koreans to try to escape to China.
The Chinese authorities stubbornly uphold their policy of repatriating defectors found in their territory, even though repatriated North Koreans face notoriously harsh treatment. The North Korean authorities allegedly pay Chinese informants to denounce defectors.
So defectors in China are forced into hiding -- and often into the clutches of ruthless individuals who trap them in forced labour or sex work.
Only the ones who meet missionaries willing to risk their own lives to help them seek asylum have any real chance of a better life in a safe third country.
These Christians workers are usually the first to share the gospel with them -- and many defectors are turning to Christ.
All this is extraordinary, given that just over 100 years ago, Pyongyang experienced Christian revival and was known as the 'Jerusalem of the East'.
RI projects
RI's work for North Korean Christians includes:
- Offering financial support to Christians in China offering refuge and spiritual support to North Korean refugees
- Helping North Koreans gain safe passage to a third country, by supporting the Chinese Christians who guide them and share the gospel with them.
Sources: BBC; International Christian Concern; The Voice of the Martyrs Canada; The World Factbook 2007; World Christian Database.