Release International

Three leaders of an underground house church in North Korea have been executed and 20 of their Christian associates jailed, according to sources inside the reclusive nation.

North Korean police raided a house in Kuwal-dong in Pyungsung county, Pyongan province, and arrested all 23 believers who had gathered for a 'religious function', according to the news agency, AsiaNews.

Three 'ringleaders' were tried, sentenced to death and executed soon afterwards. The other 20 were reportedly sent to prison camp No. 15 in Yodok. The arrests and executions happened in mid-May – but news of them has only just emerged from the so-called 'hermit kingdom'.

The events have also been confirmed by North Korea Intellectual Solidarity, a group of North Korean defectors based in Seoul committed to raising awareness of injustice and promoting reform in their homeland.

AsiaNews reports that the 23 Christians had come to faith after some of them travelled to mainland China on business and came into contact with the church there.

North Korea's totalitarian regime permits only one religion: the cult worship of President Kim Il Sung and his son, the current ruler, Kim Jong Il. Christians can be killed simply for owning a Bible.

(Sources: AsiaNews, Daily NK, North Korea Intellectual Solidarity, Release International)

• Pray for Christians in North Korea, forced to worship in secret and living in fear of their lives.
• Pray for the families of the three house church leaders who were executed recently.
• Pray too for the swift release of the other 20 believers held in one of North Korea's notorious prison camps.

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