Sunday, March 23, 2008

Christianity in North Korea

A group of college students in Chungjin, Northern Hamgyung Province, North Korea got caught by the government and are under investigation for watching a Christian CD and reading bibles. According to the testimony from one refugee who was vice –director of the state-owned company Keum-reng Corp., this company was closely connected to smuggle, cooperating with secret Christian group in the region. He confessed that he tacitly acquiesced to this smuggling process. The authorities began to thoroughly investigate this matter as the bibles and CDs spread quickly throughout Chungjin and Najin. About two hundred bibles and CDs were smuggled from China to these regions by means of burlap sacks. He claimed that many people are charged with spreading illegal religious materials in this incident and severely tortured by authorities. He fled from North Korea, for fear of being put in a political prison.

Allegedly, some churches exist in North Korea. However, considering the characteristics of regime, this does not imply freedom of religion exists in North Korea because churches were used only as an official front for freedom of religion. North Korean communist leaders see religion as a challenge against their authoritative tyranny or the worship of their great leader. In this regard, this incident might be viewed as a serious warning sign to their rigid society.

No comments: