North Korea’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in reality it functions as a totalitarian regime. Driven by a paranoid tyrannical leader, persecution pervades every aspect of civic, social, family, and private life. While formally North Korea is an atheistic country, its constitution nominally grants freedom of religious belief, but prohibits the use of religion for “drawing in foreign forces or for harming the State.” According to the document, “The government treats religion as a threat to the state-propagated ideology known as Juche, which preaches ‘self-reliance and self-development.” Under North Korea’s songbun system, citizens are classified based on their perceived loyalty to the state. Religious practitioners belong to the “hostile” class, which limits their access to educational and employment opportunities, as well as other state benefits. North Korea has a network of prison camps (kyohwaso) and labor training camps (rodongdanryondae) to house an estimated 80,000–120,000 prisoners of conscience and other citizens declared “enemies of the state.” Experts estimate that tens of thousands of these prisoners are Christians, the majority of whom were arrested by the Ministry of State Security because they possessed a Bible. Christians are particularly vulnerable for targeting because they are viewed as having ties with Western countries, and thus posing a threat of foreign infiltration. Even family members often must keep their faith secret from one another for fear of discovery. Fellowship with other believers in group worship poses too great a risk.
The Persecution of Christians Part 18
