The Kim dynasty, which has ruled North Korea for three generations, are worshipped like gods, and any suggestion that there is a higher authority than the nation’s leader, Kim Jong-Un, is immediately crushed. Tens of thousands of Christians are incarcerated in labour camps. Thousands more keep their Christian faith a complete secret, even from their families. Imprisonment, torture, and death are the potential risks – not only to oneself, but to one’s family – of deciding to be a Christian in North Korea.
N Korea says Canadian pastor ‘admits’ espionage
A Canadian pastor arrested in North Korea in March has made a statement in which he says he tried to undermine the government. Hyeon-soo Lim, a native of South Korea and Canadian citizen who serves in , told a news conference in Pyongyang his humanitarian work in North Korea has […]
Canada confirms pastor detained in North Korea
The Canadian government has confirmed to the family of pastor Hyeon Soo Lim that he has been detained in North Korea. This follows earlier reports that nobody had heard from Lim, 60, since he crossed the Chinese border on 31 January. Lim, who is married with one son, grew up […]
Canadian pastor ‘not heard from’ in North Korea
The head pastor of a large Canadian church has failed to return from a humanitarian visit to North Korea. Reverend Hyeon Soo Lim, 60, had made hundreds of trips to the secretive state where he helped oversee an orphanage, a nursery and a nursing home. Speaking on behalf of the […]
N Korean torture victim changes story
A man who escaped from a North Korean prison camp and became the subject of a best-selling book that described how he was tortured has admitted minor parts are untrue. Shin Dong-hyuk has now said that accounts of his torture and the execution of his mother and brother are slightly […]
North Korea’s human rights in UN spotlight
Despite initial opposition from China and Russia, the UN Security Council is discussing North Korea’s human rights record. According to the BBC, this comes ‘days after the UN General Assembly voted in favour of referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court to face charges of crimes against humanity.’ Earlier […]
Human Rights Day but Article 18 violated every day
Drawing made by a former prisoner who was detained in the Chongori prison. North Korean prisoner pretends to be asleep and uses food to catch a mouse which he will eat raw.United Nations Human Rights “Christmas in a N. Korean gulag will be just another day of grotesque suffering” […]
North Korea unexpectedly frees US detainees
Two Americans who had been detained by North Korea returned to the US on November 9. Christian missionary Kenneth Bae was sentenced to 15 years hard labour for crimes against the state two years ago and Californian Matthew Todd Miller was sentenced to six years of hard labour after he […]
Pope’s Korean visit highlights plight of North’s Christians
Pope Francis has arrived in South Korea and is calling for peace and dialogue between the two Koreas instead of ‘displays of force.’ His five-day visit is the first time a Pope has visited the Korean Peninsula in 25 years. It coincides with the appeals of two detained American Christians, […]
The lessons of Kim Jong-Wook
North Korea seen through barbed wire at the China border.Open Doors International Last week, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea rejected a request from South Korea to hold discussions about the fate of Kim Jong-Wook. The DPRK in late May sentenced Kim to spend the rest of his life […]
Amnesty tells North Korea to end Christian persecution
Amnesty International has said North Korean authorities must release all those detained solely for their religious beliefs, following reports that an American tourist has been arrested after he left a Bible at a hotel. According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the man arrived April 29 and was detained […]