NORTH KOREA
Satellite image of North Korea at night. Only the capital city, Pyongyang is lit at night.
Satellite image of one of 12 "concentration camp-like" prisons in North Korea.
North Korea is a country of 26 million people and near the size of the state of Mississippi.
It is ranked the most isolated, repressed, oppressed and persecuted country in the world. For 76 years now, following WWII, North Korea has operated as a totalitarian regime where the political authority exercises absolute control over all aspects of life and society. The people are subordinate to the regime and exist only to further the regime. The government controls the media, there is no freedom of speech, human rights abuses abound.
North Korea is one of the poorest countries of the world, yet it has one of the largest standing armies and nuclear weapons programs.
Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea was once known as the “Jerusalem of the East” but today it is in darkness.
The Kim family is the supreme authority and each Kim ruler is a god-figure to society. All citizens are required to worship the current Kim, Kim Yong Un and those who don’t comply are arrested, imprisoned, tortured and are often killed.
Christians in North Korea are forced to hide their faith from the government, society and even their own families. An estimated 30,000 Christians at any given time are suffering in prison camps being beaten, starved, tortured and killed. Those who attempt to flee North Korea risk execution and three generations of their family pay the price by being thrown in prison.
Despite these repressive conditions God is still at work in North Korea. North Koreans are still coming to Christ and many of them continue to pay the price for their faith.
Give Bibles To North Korean Underground Believers
Despite these atrocities, the number of secret underground believers is estimated to be approximately 400,000. Much of what we learn about Christianity in North Korea comes from North Korean defectors, estimated to be at 35,000.
The Bible, God's Word, is a great need for the North Korean people and underground believers. God's Word reveals the truth, portrays the one true God and sets people free. Our partners in South Korea creatively get copies of the Bible and other essential items into North Korea by land, sea and by air.