Pictured above: Secret prayer meeting
North Korea's new 'Great Leader', Kim Jung-Un, appears to be more brutal than his predecessors, his father Kim Il-Jung and his grandfather Kim Il-Sung. He may have ordered the assassination of his own brother and uncle, just as North Korea is currently conducting nuclear tests and threatening the world with mounting bombs on long-range missiles. The West is trying to counter these threats by once again using the tool of sanctions, but does it work against the country's leadership, which in the mid-1990s allowed famine and the death of around 3 million people, and today allows catastrophic health conditions in the country, but lives in luxury itself?
Even before Kim Jung-Un took office in 2012, Tim Peters, one of the Danish European Mission's partners on North Korea, told this magazine in May 2010 how he was already known as ruthless back then, and developments have only confirmed that characterization.
Before the Korean War, there were 2,000 churches in Pyoungyang
But what about the church? Is there a church and do Christians have the freedom to practice their faith? The North Korean constitution is ambiguous, as while Article 12 guarantees citizens freedom of belief, Article 82 limits freedom of belief again by stating that citizens must also uphold the ideological unity of the country (Juche ideology) and live a socialist life. In Pyongyang, there are a few churches where descendants of the country's early Christian lineages are allowed to meet. However, they are not allowed to evangelize, and the churches serve as "exhibitions" that the regime can display to give foreign visitors the impression that there is freedom of religion in the country.
In practice, however, the Christian faith is forbidden as only the Communist Party's 'Juche' ideology is allowed. At first glance, the Juche ideology may look like a mishmash of personality worship of the Kim family and socialism, but on closer inspection it looks more like a religion and reveals, perhaps unwittingly, that North Korea has a rich Christian heritage.
The Communist Party's Juche ideology reveals, perhaps unwittingly, that North Korea has a rich Christian Heritage.
Before the Korean War, Christians were the largest group in civil society. In 1950, the year before the Korean War began, the North Korean government wrote in its yearbook that there were more than 2,000 churches and 200,000 Christians in the North Korean region. This is according to Dr. Eric Foley, another of the Danish European Mission's contacts on North Korea. The foundation for church growth was laid by the revival in Pyoungyan in 1907, where at that time there were perhaps more Christians than in Seoul, now in South Korea.
Kim Il-Sung grew up in a Christian home, but put himself in God's place as an adult
In fact, Kim Il-Sung grew up in a Christian home. He went to church himself until 8th grade, and his grandfather was the eldest brother in a church. 
Image right: North Koreans bow to Kim Il-Sung and Kim Il-Jung. (Photo: J.A de Roo CC BY-SA 3.0)
And there are indications that Kim Il-Sung misused the experiences of his childhood home to create the Juche ideology - the religion where he, later his son and now his grandson are gods. For example, the Juche ideology has 10 principles, where the Christian faith has 10 commandments - and while many Christians attend church and meetings twice a week, North Korea has two weekly 'self-criticism' meetings. Furthermore, North Korea's 100 large 'revolutionary research centers' serve the same function as churches, inspiring people to follow the Juche ideology. When North Koreans read the Bible for the first time, they are surprised, especially at Genesis 1, where it says that God created man in his image, as they have learned that all people are created in the image of Kim Il-Sung.
In fact, Kim Il-Sung grew up in a Christian home and attended church until 8th grade.
Family punished if a North Korean becomes a Christian
Despite the population being forced to practice the Juche religion, there are an estimated 100,000 Christians in North Korea today. Around a third are estimated to be imprisoned in concentration camps for life because of their faith in Jesus. According to North Korean criminal law, an entire family can be punished if one family member commits a crime, and families are punished for the crimes of family members for three generations. The fact that an entire family can be punished because one family member is a Christian means that the family can put pressure on family members not to become Christians. Likewise, a Christian can think: "I want to practice my faith, but what are the consequences for my children? Will they risk going with me to a prison camp?" The price of being a Christian is thus very high in North Korea.
One could say that the North Korean regime has created a social structure with built-in social pressure to prevent people from coming to faith in Jesus and openly witnessing about him. As a result, North Korean Christians are often very cautious when they do choose to share the Good News with their fellow countrymen.
Brainwashing from kindergarten
School teachers are trained to ask students specific questions that can reveal whether there are Bibles in children's homes and whether a family is Christian. The use of these tactics also means that parents are pressured to hide their faith from their own children and not raise them in the Christian faith. Instead, the regime tries to brainwash children in school, even as early as kindergarten.
In a population isolated from the outside world, with a leader who brainwashes the inhabitants into believing he is God, it is wonderful that there may still be 100,000 Christians. Our sisters and brothers need all the prayers and support we can give them in their time of need.
Read also " Thank you letter from the underground church in North Korea " and " Interview with leaders of North Korea's underground church “.
Support North Korea: Medicine and food for Christians and others in need
